


Primal Instinct

by NFx



Category: One Piece
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bickering, Dom/sub, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Lots of kissing, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Pining, Post-Thriller Bark, Roronoa Zoro and Vinsmoke Sanji Bickering, Sanji being in denial what else is new, Slow Burn, Switching, Werewolves, he's an idiot and i hate him but i love him, i mean. it's zosan., slight blood/violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:08:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 50,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26159293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NFx/pseuds/NFx
Summary: Sanji could easily admit that, among the crew, Zoro was someone that he respected only for his battle skills, but otherwise, didn't have any sort of relationship with. The fact that they hated each other's guts, and could barely go by without killing one another for ten seconds said it all.Yet, something snapped inside of Sanji at the sight of the werewolf standing tall in that wrecked courtyard, proud, even when facing death.That was only the beginning.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 100
Kudos: 397





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! This fic is pure self-indulgence, just letting you know beforehand. Once I finished watching OP back in Spring, I was determined to write at least one multi-chaptered zosan fic, and then zosan + werewolves au popped into my head, so here we are, I guess! I hope you enjoy this fic just as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> A/N: Luffy: Beta, Zoro: Alpha, Usopp: Beta, Nami: Alpha. No mpreg/heats/ruts. There is a mating season, but nothing like ‘knots’ or ‘self-lubricating omegas’ exist. (Just wanted to address these early on, so you know what is going on!)

It all started after their fight against Bartholomew Kuma in Thriller Bark.

At this point, Sanji had given up completely on trying to figure out Zoro. That green haired dog was just impossible to fucking read! He barely voiced out his own opinions (only rarely when the situation called for it), and if he wasn’t too preoccupied with his ridiculous daily training, he would either be sleeping or drinking like an alcoholic.

In short, Zoro and him had barely ever had a civilized conversation that lasted more than ten seconds without yelling profanities and trying to kill each other. Sanji doubted if Zoro cared about him in the slightest, as their bond consisted of a mere mutual respect for each other’s skills in battle, but besides that, they hardly tolerated each other.

And then that green haired idiot goes and pulls shit like that when they were facing Kuma, throwing Sanji completely off the loop. Just what was his deal? He knows that Zoro isn’t the type of guy to want to steal all the glory for himself and boast about it. In fact, that guy is probably the most honorable man Sanji has ever come across. It makes him absolutely _sick_ just admitting it to himself, but still. Was it something more personal? Or was it just Zoro being an idiot?

Well, he wouldn’t put it past Zoro to do that just to spite Sanji. They could both reach extreme levels of pettiness when it came to being competitive. Or perhaps it was a hero complex? From what he had observed since he first joined the crew, Sanji felt like Zoro was oddly overprotective of the people he considered to be his friends.

Willing to cut your own legs without a moment of hesitation to save your friends? Willingly accepting all the pain and damage Luffy sustained in his previous battles, just so the rest could walk free? It wasn’t like Sanji wouldn’t make any precious sacrifice to aid his friends in need, but any logical person would hesitate, would be _scared_.

But then again, Zoro never had any ounce of rationality in him, did he?

“Cook-san.”

Sanji turned to glance over his shoulder, a wide smile spreading on his lips as he saw Robin approaching him.

“Ah, my sweet Robin-chan, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Are you perhaps hungry? Thirsty? I could—” as he was about to stand, a hand emerged from his back, gently applying pressure on his shoulder.

“Thank you for your offer, but we’re all good for the moment, cook-san. I merely came to check on you, as you’ve been sitting here for a couple of hours now and we were starting to get worried.” Robin explained as she came to stand beside him, staring at the dark sea stretching in front of them.

Sanji clasped his hands together, “Ah, I apologize for getting my two sweet angels worried about me, that was not my intention, Robin-chan! I just came out here to clear my mind and didn’t notice when time passed by.” He responded.

Robin turned towards him, head cocked slightly to the side, “And what exactly would be preoccupying your mind so much that has made you lose track of time?”

Sanji waved his hand, smiling up at Robin. “Oh, it’s nothing important, I don’t want to waste your precious time—”

“Cook-san,” Robin interrupted, “I assure you; you are not wasting any of my time. While not much unusual, it’s odd to see you so hung up on something.”

Sanji’s lips twitched, smile slowly falling off his face. He turned back ahead, gazing at the endless dark sea filling the horizon. Robin could be so perceptive, but it wasn’t like he was surprised— it was, after all, one of her amazing characteristics that Sanji loved!

“I’ve just been thinking about everything that happened. I don’t know, I feel like…” he paused, eyebrows furrowing, “I feel like I could have done way more, yet I’m always just…losing. I feel like I’m not doing enough.” He turned towards Robin, flashing her a reassuring smile, “It’s okay, though, this has just made me realize that I need to get stronger, and thus, in the future I will be able to protect both Robin-chan and Nami-swan without any regrets!”

After that, Robin remained quiet, and Sanji followed suit, deciding to enjoy this peaceful moment in her presence. At least, among their crew, only Brook knew what had happened, and Sanji was sure that he wouldn’t dare say anything to the rest, as the skeleton didn’t want to get involved. Probably. Sanji didn’t know what to think of the musician yet, but his skills were a pleasant addition to the crew.

“Cook-san,” Robin started, breaking the silence, “What’s your knowledge on werewolves?”

Sanji’s eyebrows creased, nose wrinkling. “Werewolves? Where did that come from so suddenly, Robin-chan?”

“Humor me for a second.”

Sanji leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “Well, first of all, everyone knows that Marines hate werewolves, so that’s why most of them end up becoming pirates. I also know that there is something called ‘secondary gender’ which only applies to them? Some are born alphas, some betas and some as omegas, but I have heard that anatomically there are no differences between the three ‘genders’, just that women mostly tend to be born as omegas and men more as alphas or betas.” He answered, scratching the back of his head.

“Oh, and amongst our crew, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Nami-swan are werewolves, right?”

“Correct.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, Robin-chan, why did you want to know? I’m sure you are far more knowledgeable on the subject than me.” He reasoned, turning his head towards her.

Robin propped her right elbow on her left hand, her right hand slightly covering her mouth as she turned her dark eyes towards Sanji, the vague, amused glint in her gaze making him seize up.

“It’s nothing, I was just curious to see your side of things. Thank you for your time, cook-san, I will be taking my leave now.” Robin offered him a small smile and turned around.

Sanji watched her leave, mouth open as he tried to find words.

“Oh, and, cook-san? If you want to fully understand the meaning behind Zoro’s actions, I would advise you to learn about werewolves’ culture and _their_ view of things.”

Sanji’s eyes went round, a lump forming in his throat as he watched Robin disappear back into the half-wrecked building, leaving him in the ruins of the courtyard alone.

* * *

The next day, after Sanji had woken up early to prepare breakfast for everyone, a pleasant melody had flowed through the building, succeeding in soothing his frantic mind. As he went around, distributing everyone’s meal, he thanked Brook for the music and, after he had made sure that everyone had taken a platter of food, he took his portion and sat down, leaning against Zoro’s bed.

Once he had eaten, he placed the empty platter next to him and discreetly glanced around, making sure that no one was looking towards his direction. Then, he shifted on his knees and reached over, placing his two fingers on Zoro’s thumb side of his wrist. When he found a faint, but steady pulse, he let out a small sigh.

Suddenly, he flinched as he felt something nudge his elbow and turned to the side, a small smile twitching on his lips as he came face to face with a six feet tall black wolf. He reached up and placed his hand under Luffy’s chin as he ducked his head to Sanji’s height, making it easier for Sanji to pet him.

“Hey there, captain, you’re up early.” He chuckled as the wolf nudged forward and pushed him back until he could place his head on Sanji’s lap, his tail wagging happily.

“Aren’t you energetic?” he huffed as the wolf pawed at him and he placed his hand over the captain’s head, running his hand through the black fur soothingly. “You do know that I have to get up soon, right?”

The wolf yowled in protest and burrowed his muzzle further into Sanji’s lap. He resigned for the time being and decided to remain there for a while and keep Luffy company. Either way, it wasn’t until a few hours that he would have to get up and start to work again for the preparation of lunch, so he had time to spare.

As he sat back and relaxed, Robin’s words creeped into his mind again. What did she mean to view things from the werewolves’ point of view? Sanji knew that werewolves, while in their true form, had at least strength tenfold of an average man, thus occasionally being more aggressive and temperamental, as they were part wolf, but other than that, nothing could explain the meaning behind their spontaneous actions.

Or it could be that just Zoro was the defective one. Or maybe…maybe Zoro knew that he was weak. Weak enough not to be able to survive Kuma’s vicious attack and decided to take him out of the way, so he wouldn’t embarrass the rest of the crew.

Only a hit to the side with the hilt of Zoro’s sword, and Sanji was out cold.

He narrowed his eyes and grabbed a cigarette from the front pocket of his jeans, biting down on it viciously when he placed it between his teeth. What ‘impossible to read’ bullshit was he spewing on about yesterday? When had he turned into such a little sissy, running away from his problems? Just how desperate was he, denying to accept the fact that he was weak, _weak_ and _useless_.

Perhaps _they_ were right all along.

A whine snapped him back to reality and as he turned his head down, he was met with black fur as Luffy nuzzled against his neck and cheek.

“Shit, Luffy, I almost ate a ball of your fur! Back up a bit!” he swore as he coughed, but the wolf refused to listen and almost mauled him as he rested his head on Sanji’s shoulder, occasionally licking him and making those low, whiny sounds.

He let out a heavy sigh, “Luffy, get up, I have to go out for a smoke.” He tried to push the oversized wolf off him, but he refused to budge and stubbornly remained planted on top of him, making a huffing sound.

Sanji clicked his tongue, “Do you want me to smoke right next to that green haired idiot while he’s on his death bed?” he pointed out.

A moment of silence followed wherein neither Sanji nor Luffy moved. Although, after a while, the black wolf reluctantly pushed himself off Sanji and instead curled up next to him, close to Zoro’s bed. He smiled as he watched Luffy nudge Zoro’s cheek with his nose and turned around, walking outside in the wrecked courtyard.

Sanji grabbed his lighter and flicked it open, lighting up his cigarette. He took a long drag as he placed the lighter back inside his pocket and slowly exhaled the smoke, watching it dispatch into the air.

Time passed by quickly without even realizing it, and soon it was almost noon, time for Sanji to prepare lunch drawing near.

“Guess I should head back, huh…” he murmured to himself as he gazed at the cloudless sky. He took one last drag of his cigarette and then threw it on the ground, stomping on it with his heel. As he was on his way back, there was debris on the path and had to jump on each mountain of rocks to get through. As Sanji stepped on one, he landed quite awkwardly, the impact vibrating through his body, pain buzzing in his bruised ribs.

His jaw clenched, holding his side with one hand as he hunched over. Sanji took a deep, shaky breath, trying to get himself together.

“Should you really be jumping around like a monkey with those bruises?”

Sanji’s breath hitched in his throat, hand on his side clutching on the fabric of his blue sweater. He slowly lifted his head, locking eyes with Zoro.

_How the fuck did he already wake up? Barely three days have passed!_

Sanji scoffed and averted his eyes, gaze falling over the half-wrecked building in the distance where everyone else was.

“I don’t want to fucking hear that from you.” He grumbled and took the one last leap down on ground level, starting to walk towards Zoro. He passed by him without paying Zoro any mind and hoped that the swordsman wouldn’t retaliate, as he was sure that one simple word would set him off.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean, shit-cook?”

Sanji gritted his teeth, pausing in his steps. God, that ignorant and oblivious fucking _tone_ , as if Zoro had no idea what he had done! He turned around, lips pressed into a thin line as he glared at the other man.

“Oh, you damn well know what the fuck I’m talking about, do _not_ play dumb with me!” he exploded, jabbing his finger towards Zoro accusingly.

Zoro merely raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, peering at him with that haughty expression that Sanji despised _so_ fucking much.

“You come to me, preaching me about not being careful with my injuries, but what about you?! You— you almost fucking died! When I found you covered from head to toe with blood I thought—” his throat closed, and paused, running his hand roughly through his hair, “And now only three days later you’re up and about, strolling around like nothing happened?” he panted heavily, a wild look in his eyes.

Zoro bored his eyes into him, his face not betraying anything. After a few tense seconds, Zoro sighed and scratched the back of his head. “You’re making this more complicated than it already is. Just leave it alone, curly-eyebrow, it is what it is.”

Sanji felt his eye twitch, blood boiling inside his veins. How could someone be so insensitive? Here Sanji was, trying to actually _talk_ to that green haired bastard for once and not result in kicking his ass from the first second, but Zoro was making it really fucking hard to restrain himself.

“Will you fucking take this seriously, for once? You’re not invincible, none of us are! If you keep up this hero complex of yours, sooner or later, you won’t be able to walk away from it unscathed!” he snapped.

Zoro sighed and murmured something incoherent under his breath. “Look, what happened, happened. There’s no use talking about it, so will you stop bitching like a damn woman now? You’re impossible sometimes, shit-cook.”

Sanji let out a humorless laugh, “ _I’m_ the impossible one? _Me_?” he shook his head, a bitter smile spreading wide on his face. “You know, I don’t fucking get you. Why go through all that trouble to knock me unconscious when I was fully willing to take your place? It’s not like you give a shit— on the contrary, you probably hate my guts, so why not just let me die and finally enjoy the moments of newfound peace? It would be like killing two birds with one stone.”

Before he knew it, Sanji found himself slammed against a wall, the impact rattling his bruised body, knocking the wind out of him.

“Do _not_ fucking assume things about me on your own accord. Next time I hear you spewing bullshit, I will maim you myself, Kuma be damned.” Zoro growled, eyes almost fully dark with fury.

Sanji stiffened as he noticed the subtle hints of Zoro transforming; his teeth and nails becoming sharper, longer, something dangerous and primal flashing in his eyes. Sanji placed his hands over Zoro’s where he was gripping Sanji’s collar tightly, his skin burning at the touch.

“Zoro, let me fucking go.” He commanded, meeting Zoro’s gaze head on. The swordsman remained silent as he glared at Sanji, only the sound of his heavy breathing able to be heard. For a second, Sanji thought that Zoro’s eyes had become a black abyss, his pupil swallowing the iris, and his body trembled, fear spiking inside his chest as he felt compelled to shrink away from that predatory gaze.

It was all over in seconds, Zoro had backed away a few steps from Sanji, turned away, his broad back now facing him. Sanji squared his shoulders, smoothing down his sweater and observed Zoro’s back for a few seconds, noticing how tense he was.

Without a further moment to lose, Sanji walked away and made his way back. For the rest of the day, not even cooking, or talking to Nami and Robin could keep those dark and sinister eyes from flashing in his mind.

* * *

“Sanji, come here, I need to change your bandages!”

Sanji blew out smoke, watching as Chopper wobbled over to him.

“I know that almost a week has passed and that you heal relatively quickly in comparison to the average person, but I still don’t want to be too hasty, so let me at least check your injuries again to estimate your condition— Sanji!” Chopper exploded, “What did I tell you about smoking while injured?! I told you to cut down on chain smoking until you got better!”

Sanji smiled sheepishly as Chopper fumed, glaring up at him disapprovingly. “I’m so sorry, doctor, you know I can’t help myself with this addiction of mine,” he nibbled down on his lower lip, trying to keep his grin at bay, “I swear I’ll take your trusted and professional advice more seriously next time.”

Immediately, a huge, pleased smile stretched on Chopper’s mouth, cheeks turning red. “Shut up, bastard! It’s not like this makes me happy!”

Sanji’s eyes softened and patted Chopper on the head, “Yes, yes, you’re doing an incredible job, doctor.”

“Now you’re just trying to get on my good side, asshole! I assure you, it won’t work!” Chopper said, although the smile was still evident on his face.

“Well, I think it’s quite effective, Chopper-kun.” Usopp commented, lifting a hand.

“Don’t think that you can get away with— Zoro! What did I tell you about not training yet?! Put that rock down!”

Sanji watched as Chopper ran away, completely forgetting about what he had come here to do in the first place, although Sanji supposed that attending to that green haired idiot was more urgent. He placed the cigarette between his lips and joined Usopp on the table, taking the seat across him.

It was just an hour or two after lunchtime, therefore there was still a lot of time until he had to get up for dinner preparations, and could relax for the time being. Time passed by pleasantly, the joyful melodies of Brook’s violin echoing throughout the whole establishment. At one point, Sanji felt pressure, like someone was watching him and turned around, locking eyes with Usopp’s nervous gaze.

Sanji lifted an eyebrow as Usopp yelped and ducked down, hiding under the table. “Usopp, what…what are you doing? You okay?”

“No, I’m not okay, I have the Can’t-talk-about-feelings disease! It’s very deadly!” Usopp protested, peeking up from the end of the bed at the other side.

Sanji gave him an unimpressed look and patiently waited as Usopp slowly stood up and took a seat across from him again. Sanji crossed his legs and folded his arms over his chest, whilst Usopp was looking anywhere but him. He sighed, “Usopp, if you have something you want to tell me, just out with it, I’m not gonna bite.”

After a few seconds of silence, Usopp peered up at him with a serious glint in his eyes, making Sanji shift in his seat.

“Did anything happen between you and Zoro?”

Sanji’s eyes went round, gaping at Usopp. How did Usopp know? Unless he had talked to Zoro, which meant that Zoro had to open up and share his feelings, which, in return, was plain impossible, he didn’t know how it was possible for Usopp to know. Sanji didn’t even know if that green-haired idiot was competent in processing the meaning of human emotions. On the other hand, they had barely talked or looked in each other’s general direction since their fight in the wrecked courtyard. However, that was hardly something recently-developed. More or less, they had always been like that, thus the question still remains.

And there was no way that Zoro had told Usopp about everything that had taken place— unfortunately, he _knows_ that idiot.

“What do you mean?” Sanji asked, puzzled.

Usopp averted his eyes and lifted his hand, scratching his nape. “I mean, I get that you’re not a werewolf and you don’t have the abilities to sense it, but Zoro has been giving this…depressed vibe, lately. So, I was wondering if something happened between you two.”

A second passed. After two, three seconds of complete silence Sanji burst out in loud laughter, doubling over. He held his stomach with his left hand and with the right one slapped his knee, trying to get a hold of himself. By the time he had calmed down, his stomach was throbbing in pain, unshed tears glistening in his eyes.

“I think I missed the joke, Sanji-kun.” Usopp commented, staring at him with a blank expression.

“Okay, first of all,” Sanji started, “Did I really hear you correctly? You said that Zoro was what, ‘depressed’? Zoro? That green-haired ape, incapable of understanding human emotion, _depressed_?” he scoffed, shaking his head.

“Second of all, even if he was ‘depressed’, the fuck does that have to do with me? If anything, I’d say he’s acting pretty fucking normal; sleeping, training and not talking to anyone. Oh, and drinking gallons of alcohol, how could I ever forget that? So yeah, I fail to see how this is any of my fault.” He finished, shrugging a shoulder.

Usopp gawked at him, opening and closing his mouth like a fish, his expression frozen into one of astonishment. “Sanji, you…you have no idea, do you?”

Sanji cocked his head, “About what?”

“What do you mean ‘about what’, it’s obviously because you and him—” before Usopp could finish, an arm emerged from his shoulder and covered his mouth, cutting him off.

“Oh, there you are, Longnose-kun, I believe Franky is requesting your assistance back in the Sunny; he mentioned something about the last finishing touches just before we set sail.” Robin walked up to them, flashing a small smile towards Usopp. Usopp let out a muffled whimper behind the hand and stumbled to his feet, breaking into a mad dash away from them.

Robin merely nodded at him with that mysterious smile and walked away without saying anything. What the fuck was that all about? Usopp seemed like he knew something about…Zoro and him?

“What the fuck am I thinking, that doesn’t even make any sense.” He mumbled to himself, hand on his chin.

Then, Sanji felt a heavy presence on his back, and whipped his head around, eyes scanning through the crowd of people. At a corner, he caught a flash of green, before it disappeared from his vision entirely. Sanji stood up from his seat and went after it, walking out of the half-wrecked building and into the courtyard. He walked a few feet away until he spotted it in the distance and paused.

A seven feet tall, emerald wolf running away in the opposite direction. Sanji remained there, watching as Zoro’s huge wolf silhouette started becoming smaller and smaller in the horizon, until he eventually vanished.

Wasn’t that idiot supposed to be critically injured? Well, it’s not like Zoro had ever listened to anyone’s advice before, and surely, he wouldn’t start now, but the fact that the swordsman managed to make an escape under Chopper’s watchful eye was a rare feat.

Not that Sanji cared.

As he turned around, about to walk back the same way he came, he caught a glimpse of something gleaming from the corner of his eye. Sanji turned towards it and took a few steps forward, coming to a stop before a wooden plank. He threw it off with his foot and frowned once he saw what was underneath.

Sanji turned his head back towards the place he had seen Zoro disappear off to, something heavy settling in his stomach.

Three swords glistened under the afternoon sun on the ground, a green haramaki wrapped around them.

* * *

Sanji was in the galley, rearranging food ingredients and spices when he heard the commotion going off outside. All he heard was muffled yelling, both male and feminine and quickly went outside, worried that something had happened to Nami or Robin.

“—told you, I’m not fucking leaving until I find who took my god damn swords!” Zoro yelled at Nami.

“Well, if you weren’t such a moron and forgot where you had placed them, we wouldn’t be doing this right now, so it’s not my fault, is it?” Nami shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Shut up, you fucking witch!” Zoro took a threatening step towards her, lips pulled back in a snarl.

“Hey, watch how you’re fucking talking to her, bastard!” he fumed, shooting a glare at Zoro.

Zoro whipped his head towards him so fast, Sanji was almost convinced that he had heard a crack in his neck. Zoro glared him down, his pupils almost completely blown and animalistic. His fingers twitched and swallowed the lump in his throat, forcing himself to stand his ground and not cower away.

“W-what makes you think you can talk to Nami-san like that, huh? I thought dogs were supposed to be obedient,” a smug smirk twitched on his lips.

Although, as Zoro’s eyes became fully black, void of any humanity left, his canines slowly turning sharper, deadly, Sanji could admit that, perhaps, considering the current circumstances and the mindset Zoro was under, he _might_ have had crossed the line.

Only slightly.

“Oh no, that’s— you shouldn’t have said that, Sanji, _really_ bad timing.” Usopp fretted, immediately diving behind Nami for cover.

Zoro lowly growled, two black globes locked on him as he slowly advanced on him. Sanji lifted his hands in front of him and took one cautious step back. In terms of strength, he was on par with Zoro, but that was only because Sanji had never attempted to fight Zoro when the man was in his wolf form. It’s not like Sanji thought that he could get defeated or anything, but it just never occurred.

“Oi, Straw-hat, don’t we have to stop them? I may not know much about werewolves, but I think Zoro-bro is about to rip cook-bro to pieces!” Franky declared, taking a step closer to Zoro, but suddenly, Luffy jumped down next to him and extended his arm horizontally, blocking Franky from taking any step forward.

“No,” Luffy said, his eyes shadowed by the brim of his straw-hat, “they need to solve this on their own.”

Everyone held their breath as Zoro slowly advanced on Sanji, his shoulders now hunched forward, as if getting prepared to transform.

_I have to act fast or this moron is going to wreck the Sunny!_

“Your swords!” he exclaimed, and Zoro slightly paused, yet that murderous expression was still very much evident on his face, but Sanji guessed that was a signal that he had caught his attention.

“Your swords,” he started again, calmer this time, “I…I have them.” As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Zoro made an animalistic snarl and Sanji raised both arms in front of him in a calming manner.

“Don’t jump into conclusions, and just control your god damn temper!” Immediately, Sanji went back into the galley, took Zoro’s swords that he had propped against the wall and brought them outside.

“I happened to be wandering outside and surprise, surprise! I found these three little guys all alone and unattended under a wooden plank— a wooden plank, Zoro!”

Zoro growled at him, and he lifted his hand, pointing his finger at him, “Oh no, don’t you fucking growl at me like that, it’s _your_ fault for leaving them out in the wrecked courtyard in the first place! Like, seriously, what did you expect to happen? You’re lucky I was the one that found them and not some thief!”

Sanji lowered his hand and glanced down at the three swords in his hands. “Aren’t these supposed to be your most prized possession? The reason why you’re fighting? The means through which you are going to achieve that dream of yours?” he lifted his head, locking eyes with Zoro and tossed him his swords, “Make sure you treat them with the respect they deserve, then.”

Sanji grabbed a cigarette from his front pocket and lit it with his lighter, breathing the first lungful of smoke. Sanji waited for something to happen, although it was _too_ quiet for some odd reason, and looked up, almost choking with his own spit as he came face to face with everyone’s shocked faces staring at him.

“W-What? Why are you looking at me like that?!” he stuttered, feeling his face heating up as Robin and Brook started chuckling, Franky gave him a thumbs up and Usopp was glancing away— even his sweet Nami-san was giving him a rather peculiar smirk!

“It’s— it’s not like I give a shit about what happens to his shitty swords or anything! I just— what kind of swordsman would he be without swords, huh?! A damn useless one, that is!” he stressed, gesturing with his arms around awkwardly.

Suddenly, Zoro was up in his personal space, only inches apart and Sanji flinched at the close proximity. He didn’t know if Zoro was back to normal or not, and honestly, a fight was the last thing he wanted to have now, but if Sanji sensed the least amount of hostility from him, Zoro was going to go flying, injured or not.

He remained frozen as Zoro leaned his head to the side, his body jolting when the swordsman lightly bumped his nose against Sanji’s neck, but everything was over in a second. Before Sanji had much time to realize what happened, Zoro had already disappeared off into the crow’s nest.

“W-What the fuck…” he whispered, cigarette falling off his lips as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand.


	2. two

Sanji was not avoiding Zoro. _Of course_ he wasn’t— why would he in the first place? It’s not like they held any normal conversations when they were in each other’s presence, so more or less, nothing had changed. Besides, Sanji knew that Zoro wouldn’t miss a chance to piss him off and bait him into a fight, and frankly, Sanji would feel bad fighting a crippled swordsman.

Sanji had noticed that, despite the idiot’s dismissive words, he still hadn’t fully recovered. Almost two weeks had passed since the incident with Kuma back in Thriller Bark, and four days since they had set sail from the island. Perhaps the others weren’t as observant, Sanji couldn’t be sure, but _he_ wasn’t stupid, couldn’t be fooled that easily.

It was as obvious as broad daylight that Zoro was straining himself. From the way the man sometimes would struggle to reach over a thousand swings with his weights, the way he slept more than usual during his training. Yet, Zoro denied any of Chopper’s concerns and attempts at any kind of check-up.

And in all honesty, it pissed Sanji off. Maybe that was also one of the reasons why he was avoiding him, but it wasn’t important. At the end of the day, Zoro would forever remain a brainless, stubborn dumbass and he was sure that Sanji would be the one to scoop up his remains with a spoon.

Therefore, when they anchored to the next, closest island for restocking purposes three days later, Sanji refused to go with Zoro.

“I’m terribly sorry, my sweet angel, but I’ll have to refuse,” Sanji apologized to Nami, hand placed on his chest as he bowed at her. Usually, Nami would be the one to appoint everyone’s post, and while it wasn’t the first time that she had partnered him up with Zoro, he had to refuse his sweet angel for once, no matter how much it broke his heart.

His lip twitched as he heard a few gasps and Usopp muttering _‘holy shit, he said no to Nami— quick! Call Chopper, he’s dying’_ and straightened back up, offering Nami an apologetic smile.

Nami blinked, gawking at him, “Well, uh…I guess if it really bothers you, I could—"

“No,” Zoro butted in, getting up from where he was napping against the wall next to the galley, “I will be going with him, we wouldn’t want the princess here to hurt his delicate hands with all the weight he would have to carry.” Sanji frowned as Zoro flashed him a smug smirk.

Sanji breathed in the last lungful of smoke from the cigarette dangling between his lips and slowly breathed it out, tossing the stump over the railing and into the sea. “Funny you mention that, marimo-chan,” he raised his chin, staring down at Zoro, “I was about to say the same thing.”

Zoro’s expression hardened, eyes glowering. “What are you implying?” he ordered.

“Oh, I’m not implying anything— I’m _stating_ that you are far too weak to be walking around and carrying all this weight, so why don’t you stay here and guard the Sunny like a good boy? I’ll even buy you sake as a treat for following orders like a good dog!” he provoked, earning a threatening growl from Zoro.

“Bastard! I’m going to—”

“Whoa, hold it right there!” Franky came between him and Zoro, holding his hands up defensively, “You guys are _not_ about to start fighting on the ship, if you wanna have a go, take this somewhere else!” Then, Franky turned towards him, eyebrows knitted forward into a disapproving frown, “Don’t you think you’re taking it a bit too far, cook-bro? I get that you two don’t get along very well, but this is unnecessary.”

Sanji shook his head and jumped up on the railing of the Sunny. “ _He_ took it too far when he decided that working himself half to death although he’s _already_ on his death bed was appropriate— you know what? Forget about it.”

“Sanji.”

He glanced over his shoulder, his captain standing there, gazing at him with a closed up, but serious expression.

It was like Luffy was saying; _‘You are allowed to go, but afterwards you have some explaining to do.’_

He sighed, “Yes, Captain.”

Luffy nodded, and with that, Sanji jumped down onto the ground. Under the blaring midday sun, he made his way towards the town.

* * *

“Phew, guess I’m done for today.” Sanji wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, placing his hands on his hips as he stared down at the three large bags filled with food ingredients. He glanced up, noticing that the sun had started to set, already afternoon.

“I should probably get going now.” Sanji grabbed the three bags, wobbling a bit as he tried to get adjusted to the added weight, and then started making his way back to the Sunny.

For the few hours that he had spent testing and buying ingredients, Sanji had completely shut down his mind, fleeing from the needless thoughts that occupied him. However, he knew that sooner or later he’d have to return and confront at least Luffy, if not Zoro, for his previous actions.

It’s not as if he really regretted what he said, as it _was_ true, but probably a…modest approach to it would have been more befitting. It wasn’t his fault that Zoro was such a stubborn hypocrite! Sanji didn’t know why or how, but that green-haired bastard managed to be on his mind all the damn time, deciding that annoying him just with his physical form wasn’t enough.

But Sanji wouldn’t offer his apology so effortlessly— no, he would first make sure that Zoro understood what an idiot he was being, and _then_ inform Chopper, in order to make his life a living hell.

He felt a satisfied grin twitch on his lips and nodded to himself as he made a turn.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Black Leg Sanji of the Straw-hat pirates!”

Sanji paused in his steps and glanced up, eyes narrowing as he glared at the four marines that were standing in front of him.

“I’m sorry, gentlemen, but I don’t have time to play around with you tonight. As you can see,” he gestured towards the bags he was carrying, “I have an important delivery to make.” As he was about to turn around and make a quick escape, he cursed under his breath when he found more marines standing behind him, having him completely trapped in the alley.

“Where do you think you’re going? We haven’t even started yet.” The same marine said, grinning widely. “Your bounty might not be very high, but still, I’m going to enjoy the 77 million Beli.”

Without further warning, all of the marines surrounding him launched towards him. Sanji clicked his tongue and with the raise of his leg, kicked the first one that reached him, sending him crashing back into the other two marines. Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough, being weighed down by the three bags he was still carrying in his arms, he realized as he felt white hot pain explode in his abdomen.

Sanji glanced down and bit down on his lower lip hard when he saw the pocket knife impaled in his side.

“I’m sorry, Nami-san,” he grunted and threw the three bags towards the marines that had sneaked up on him, the weight of the bags hitting them straight in the head. He swiftly pulled the pocket knife out, letting out a pained cry and tossed it to the side. Sanji turned around and started running towards the marines, successfully jumping over them, but almost lost his footing as the landing caused pain to flare up from his abdomen.

He sprinted towards the harbor, where the Sunny was, but soon found his only way blocked by a couple of dozen marines. Sanji was determined to get through them and started fighting them, although with his new injury, and still sore from the events in Thriller Bark, it was getting quite impossible to defeat all of them.

Sanji gritted his teeth as he kicked another nameless marine in the face and jumped back, avoiding a blow. In his current condition, he wasn’t confident enough in himself to actually defeat all of them and manage to return to the Sunny unscathed. He fucking hated doing this, not when he could help it, but running away and hiding until the marines left was the only choice now.

Sanji made a 180° turn and launched himself as far away as possible from the marines. He made a lot of turns into different alleys, trying to lose them, but it was futile, as Sanji was not familiar with the terrain of his town, in contrast to the marines, who were stationed in this island and currently had the upper hand.

He groaned in pain as a blade managed to graze him in the shoulder. “Fuck, this isn’t getting me anywhere. I need to think of something, _fast_.” He murmured to himself, hand holding on his abdomen, trying to lessen the blood loss as much as possible.

Sanji glanced back at the marines that were running towards him, he only had a few seconds, perhaps a minute at best to decide before they reached him. As Sanji glanced around, he caught sight of the greenery that stretched high over the small town, the forest expanding for miles.

_Guess I could lose them in there_ , he thought and without any moment to lose, sprinted towards the forest. After a while of running and weaving through the thick forest, at last, Sanji managed to lose the marines.

With a relieved sigh, he slumped against a tree and slid down, sitting on the ground. Sanji unbuttoned his jacket, the corner of his lips pulling down as he saw the hole and blood smeared all over it, now ruined. He left it next to him and then worked on the buttons on his dress shirt.

He pushed his shirt to the side and let out a humorless chuckle when he saw just how bad his wound was. He applied pressure to it and let his head fall against the trunk behind him with a ‘thump’.

“Chopper is going to kill me.”

He sat there for a few minutes, taking a breather, and continued to reluctantly rip his jacket, the action breaking his heart. It was already ruined, however, Sanji thought that it wouldn’t hurt much, and thus, took the ripped piece of cloth and tied it tightly around the wound on his left shoulder. Next, he took the remaining jacket and pressed it firmly against his bleeding wound on his abdomen.

Sanji turned his head up, watching as the sun was drifting behind the trees, its rays falling over him and the rest of the forest around him, creating a soothing atmosphere. A few chirps were heard nearby, and soon, in his field of vision, Sanji saw two light brown birds dancing around each other happily.

A small, weak smile twitched on his lips at the beautiful scenery. If he was here under normal circumstances, he would have loved to bring over his sweet Nami and Robin, as the ladies would appreciate the romanticism of this place. The rest wouldn’t be able to even see the beauty of this place, especially that green-haired bastard.

“Idiot…” he said lethargically, eyes starting to droop.

He snapped his eyes back open, cursing low under his breath. “Fuck, h-have to…get…Sunny,” as Sanji struggled to stay awake, exhaustion seeped into his bones, feeling like his weight was more than he could accommodate.

_I wish I could be able to see the ocean for one last time…_

Slowly, his eyes closed again, falling into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

When Sanji regained consciousness and slowly blinked his eyes open, it was pitch black. Initially, he panicked, as his first thought in his drowsy state was that he had been captured by the marines, but as he slowly came to his senses, he realized that he was still in the forest, against the tree he had previously sat down against.

Slowly, while supporting himself on the trunk behind him, he stood up and started taking small steps through the thick forest, hoping that he was going the right way. The trees were tall and thick, so without the moonlight it was difficult to distinguish the path he had come from.

After several minutes of wandering into the darkness, practically blind, Sanji found himself in a clearing on top of a small hill. From there, he had a panoramic view of the town below the hill. He glanced up, noticing that the moon was already high up in the dark sky, so it would be safe to say that it was probably around midnight or later.

With a deep breath, Sanji set his eyes down on the rocky path and started his dangerous descent. Normally, he wouldn’t have a problem with something as steep as this, as he would have been able to make it down to the bottom of the hill in just four or five swift jumps, but now his fresh and unattended wounds were weighing him down. The fact that Sanji had lost consciousness for a few hours, allowing his abdomen wound to bleed profusely didn’t help lighten his condition much, but only made it worse.

Honestly, it would be a miracle if he managed to reach the Sunny and not collapse halfway from blood loss.

Suddenly, Sanji lost his footing and in his panicked state, he reached out for the closest thing to hang on to, which was a small trunk to his right. Although small, the trunk managed to hold his weight, but Sanji felt his palm throb in pain. For the meantime, he ignored it and focused on carefully making the rest of his way down.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he managed to get down from the hill and onto the ground level. As he neared the town, he held his hand up, frowning as he inspected the small, but several cuts on his now bloodied palm.

“Fuck,” he fumed, but continued making his way towards the shore. The other wounds, he could handle, but hurting his precious hands was not something he ever wanted, because if it got hurt too badly, Chopper would probably have to— have to—

Sanji’s chest tightened painfully at the thought, as he damn well knew what he would be forced to do, although it’s not as if he could blame anyone else but himself. Sanji was the one that lost track of time and got comfortable, dropped his guard, and now, his carelessness got him in this shitty situation. Logically he knew that these wounds were too minor to force Chopper to cut his hand, or even just flesh out of it, but—

Sanji didn’t even want to _risk_ ever being unable to cook.

He just wanted to reach the Sunny, flop down on his hummock and sleep for the rest of the week.

As Sanji made his way through the streets, he tried to steer clear from the main roads, as they would be probably quite busy, even at this hour, but that also meant that he had to take the longer route towards the harbor. Still, Sanji preferred to choose the route that would take more time to arrive at the Sunny than to have a run in with the marines again.

“He went this way, quick!”

Sanji’s whole body tingled with dread, muscles locking in place at the familiar voice of a marine.

_Fuck._

How had they found him so easily? Sanji had made sure to weave through the alleys, even hours had passed since they had lost him in the woods, they couldn’t have been searching for him all this time, could they?

“Why the fuck does he keep going in circles? Is that a plan to confuse us?” the same marine wondered out loud.

Sanji furrowed his eyebrows, his pounding heart feeling a bit at ease. Going in circles? That definitely wasn’t him— sure, he might have made some unnecessary turns, but no such thing as going round and round, stuck in circles.

Well, whoever that moron was, Sanji wasn’t going to keep around much and find out. He could only silently thank that idiot, as he managed to distract the marines away from Sanji.

Soon, the Sunny could be seen in the distance and immense relief filled his chest, a wide smile spreading on his face. He limped towards it faster, ready for this torture to be finally over. When he was just a few meters away from it, he skidded into a halt just below the Sunny.

“Oi—” as he started to call out, an overwhelming urge to cough overtook him, becoming worse as he doubled over, feeling like he was going to cough up his intestines. His vision had slightly gone blurry, but as he tried to focus on the weird liquid on the ground in front of him, with dread, he realized that it was blood.

Sanji lost all strength in his legs and fell onto his knees, his head spinning. Was he really going to die like this? He had gone through that forest while basically blind, as there was no light to guide him, had to get down that fucking hill with his injuries and successfully evaded the marines, only to drop dead right in front of the fucking Sunny?

His ears perked up as he heard a yell. Was it a yell? He didn’t know, it felt more like background noise, muted, a low buzzing sound. Had someone noticed him? Sanji didn’t even know who had stayed behind on guard watch, but now he really wished that it would be either Luffy or Nami. Maybe Usopp. The werewolves would be able to smell the blood, right?

Sanji really wished Zoro was here, too. That green-haired idiot would know what was wrong in an instant, probably without even having to smell the blood. It was like he had a sixth sense for danger, or something.

Sanji lost consciousness before he even felt the ground.

* * *

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”

Sanji didn’t know what to really expect once he died and went to hell, but well. Being insulted before he had even regained his consciousness was probably not part of it.

“Sometimes, I hate you so much. You had the nerve to be mad about me and my injuries, but look at you now. You go and do shit like this without an ounce of care for your life, and I _hate_ you for it.”

Wow, this demon, or whatever was down in hell, had a lot of beef with Sanji, it seemed. He tried to pry his eyes open, tried to move, but his body refused to cooperate. Was he really going to lay there and listen to this man (demon?) slander him? Guess it was better than being burned eternally or whatever, right?

“Just…just come back to me.”

Huh.

What?

Come back where? Wasn’t he already dead? The voice slowly became background noise, getting lost in the static of his mind, and soon, he was in a state of nothing again.

* * *

When Sanji regained consciousness, he found himself staring at an oddly familiar ceiling. He was laying down on something soft and comfortable and tried to move to get a better visual of his surroundings. He twitched his fingers, his body slowly coming back to life. After several minutes of struggling, he managed to sit upright on the bed.

As Sanji glanced around, his heart soaring, he realized that he was in the Sunny’s infirmary and very much _alive_.

Then, the door of the infirmary opened and Chopper walked in, his head buried in some papers, looking troubled.

“Ch-chopper…?” he rasped, his throat throbbing from the dehydration.

Chopper immediately whipped his head up, his eyes going wide, papers scattering onto the ground. “S-S-SANJI! YOU’RE AWAKE!” he squealed and rushed towards him, jumping into his embrace.

“You BASTARD! I-I thought I wouldn’t be able to save you, we— we almost lost you! I’m so happy, Sanji, s-so…happy!” he chuckled, patting Chopper on his back as the little reindeer cried against his chest, his little hooves clutching onto him.

Pain spiked in his lower abdomen, making him jolt, “C-Chopper, ease up your hold, you’re crushing me.” Sanji said, tapping Chopper on his back.

Immediately, Chopper moved backwards, standing next to him on the bed, all color drained from his face. “I-I’m so sorry, Sanji! Are you okay? Where does it hurt? Oh no! I might have accidentally reopened your stitches, I—"

Sanji placed his hand on Chopper’s head, flashing him a reassuring smile. “I’m alright, doctor, just might need some water, though, my throat is pretty scratchy.”

“Right away!”

Chopper hopped down from the bed and went towards a small fridge that he kept in here, filled him a glass of water and offered it up to him. “Thanks,” he took the glass and slowly drank it, his throat feeling a lot better when he placed the empty glass on the nightstand next to the bed.

Then, his eyes widened as he caught sight of a very familiar straw-hat with a red ribbon placed on the bedpost next to his head.

“What…” he trailed off as he reached up and took the hat in his hands.

Chopper stared at Luffy’s hat in his hands with a warm smile, “Luffy placed this here when we first managed to stabilize your condition one week ago and refused to take it back until you woke up.”

Sanji’s throat closed up and squeezed his eyes shut when he felt them start to sting, “I was unconscious for a whole week?”

Chopper’s smile disappeared, sorrow glistening in his eyes as he glanced up at him. “Sanji, you…you almost _died_. When we found you, collapsed just below the Sunny, you had already lost so much blood…at one point, I thought that—”

Then, he flinched as the door banged open and automatically turned his head towards it, regretting it instantly as he locked eyes with the last person that he wanted to see right now.

Zoro was standing on the doorway, chest rising and falling in rapid breaths, dark circles under his eyes, looking wild and disheveled. Sanji thought his mind was playing tricks on him, as he saw relief flashing in Zoro’s eyes, but he didn’t contemplate it much as he lowered his head, hands clutching tighter onto Luffy’s hat.

“I heard you yelling out S— cook’s name and rushed back here— guess everything was alright…”

Sanji’s chest contorted at the breathless state of Zoro’s voice. How could he ever face him again? Sanji had treated him like shit, acted all high and mighty about Zoro being careless with his injuries, preaching him about his ‘hero complex’ and outright insulted and avoided him, while Sanji went and did the same, and even worse.

What a load of bullshit. Sanji was the biggest fucking hypocrite he had ever seen. And while it was true that maybe him and Zoro had a rocky start and fought most of the time, that didn’t cancel out the fact that they were _nakama_. Is this how nakama treated each other? Like complete garbage?

Sanji didn’t deserve to be here, didn’t deserve to be a part of Luffy’s crew. He smiled bitterly as he stared at Luffy’s hat. What exactly had convinced him that he deserved any of this?

_They_ were right, always were. Sanji didn’t deserve anything. The rest were born lucky, but he was just lucky to be born. He deserved nothing. He was nothing. But it’s okay, Luffy will take care of it. Although, Luffy is a kind soul, _so_ kind, and will probably give him a reason to make him feel better; they found a better cook, better fighter.

Sanji can trust Luffy.

“Give this to Luffy, will you?” he croaked, holding out the hat towards Zoro’s direction.

For a few seconds, his words were met by silence, his hand started to tremble. When he felt like he was about to lose all strength in his hand, a warm and calloused hand wrapped around his, gently pushing the hat back on his lap.

“Give it to him yourself.” A shudder ran down his spine at the overwhelming presence Zoro radiated, although the warm hand over his oddly soothing and grounding.

What the fuck? Did he just think of Zoro as calm and soothing? Sanji was pretty sure that he hadn’t hit his head while climbing down the hill.

Had he?

“SANJI! YOU’RE FINALLY AWAKE!”

Before he had any time to react, a body slammed against him, pinning him down against the bed. Pain exploded on his side and let out a pained cry.

“Sanji! Are you okay? Did any stitches reopen? On a scale of one to ten, how much are you hurting?” Chopper asked as he hopped up on the bed, nervously patting his hooves all over his bandaged body.

“Oi, Luffy! Get off him, you’re gonna kill him!” Zoro yelled, yanking Luffy off Sanji by the back of his collar.

“But, Zorooo, he has been sleeping for a whole week! I want meat!” Luffy whined, squirming around in Zoro’s hold.

“He just woke up, you think he’s going to be able to cook the amount of food you consume? Just settle down for a bit, geez,” Zoro sighed, scratching the back of his head as he put Luffy down.

Luffy placed his hand on his chin, tongue slightly poking out as he hummed in thought. “Hmm, if cooking’s not allowed yet, then…” he trailed off, the humming slowly becoming louder. “Ah! I know!” Luffy jogged up to Sanji, placing his hands flat on the bed.

“Sanji! Come play house with us! You can be the cook—”

“That’s the same thing, dumbass!” Zoro snapped, swatting Luffy over the head.

Sanji observed in amusement as Zoro and Luffy bickered, a small smile twitching on his lips. Then, he turned towards Chopper, “I’m fine, Chopper, Luffy mostly just caught me off guard.”

“Yeah! Sanji won’t get defeated so easily! That’s why we should have a big feast to celebrate—”

“Luffy! No feast!”

“Zoro! Yes feast!”

Sanji’s smile dropped as he glanced at Luffy’s hat which had somehow ended up on the floor on the left side of the bed. He reached over, ignoring the way his side screamed in protest and picked it up.

“Captain,” Sanji started, “we have to talk.”

At his words, everyone inside the infirmary quieted down and he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat at the tension in the air.

“Yeah, I believe we do.” Luffy responded, and Sanji’s heart just broke a little.

He closed his eyes, defeated. Of course Luffy would know what Sanji was referring to, there was no reason to delay his resignation from the crew any more than they already have.

Sanji heard the rest slowly leave the infirmary, but didn’t dare raise his head until he was sure that it was only them two.

“Your hat,” Sanji said, holding it out to him, “thank you for giving it to me. I know how much it means to you.”

“Don’t mention it!” Luffy beamed, accepted the hat and placed it back on his head, flashing him a huge smile in the process.

For a while, Sanji remained silent, opening and closing his mouth uselessly many times, trying to find the appropriate words. As he finally worked up the courage, he took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled it out.

“Captain, I think it would be in everyone’s favor if I—”

Suddenly, he felt an added weight dip the bed and gaped as Luffy curled up beside him, nose nuzzling gently against Sanji’s collarbone.

“Luffy, what…”

“So, you know, while you were sleeping, we went on an adventure deep in the woods! Did you know that there was this huuuge forest behind the town? It was going on and on forever! The best thing was the turtle-duck we came across!” Luffy wrapped his arms around Sanji’s waist, clinging onto him.

“There was this pond up on the top of the mountain and there were about a dozen of turtle-ducks! They had, like, a duck’s body and all, but on their backs, they had a turtle’s shell! How cool is that?!” Luffy bubbled, staring at Sanji with a wide smile, eyes shining, “And the best part was that I got to ride one! Maan, that was so awesome, you really missed out.”

Luffy rubbed his head against Sanji’s shoulder, humming, “When you get better, I can take you up there! They are so funny, they kept trying to latch their mouths around me! I thought it was trying to say ‘hello’, so I tried to return the favor, but I don’t think they liked it much…maybe it’s just a tradition between them?”

Sanji grimaced as he imagined Luffy trying to swallow a human sized turtle-duck. That mental image was going to stay there for a long time.

“I missed you,” Luffy confessed, voice low, “it wasn’t as fun without you. Next time, you better be with us, I don’t like seeing my nakama get hurt. Make sure you get better soon, so we can go on an adventure again…”

Something broke in Sanji, eyes wide as he gaped down at Luffy curled up around him, a content smile on his captain’s face as he slowly drifted off to sleep. The dark, cold abyss around his soul slowly cracked, and started falling apart. Behind the cracks, light shined through.

Sanji lifted a trembling hand, fingers running softly through Luffy’s black locks, the first tear rolling down his cheek.

“Thank you, Captain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as much zosan in this one, but my weak ass had to add some lusan interaction haha. If you saw me tryna add lusan no you didn't <3
> 
> If you want to scream with me about one piece and zosan my twitter is @ZorosBaraTits


	3. three

Sanji sat there in silence for what seemed like hours, patting Luffy’s head gently. When his limbs started to get numb, he carefully untangled himself from Luffy and slowly stood up. He supported himself against the wall and made his way towards the door, silently walking out.

“Funny, I thought you were the injured one, yet for some reason, Luffy is sleeping inside the infirmary.”

He jolted, letting out a surprised sound and turned his head down, noticing that Zoro was sitting against the wall just next to the infirmary, his three swords on his lap.

“I’m, uh, feeling better now…” he replied, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

“And where exactly are you going?”

“What’s it to y—” he cut himself off, averting his eyes when Zoro raised an eyebrow at him.

_Apologize. You have to apologize._

“I have been asleep for a week, right? I think it’s time for me to get back to my post and actually _do_ my job, as I have been slacking.” He joked, forcing a smile on his face.

_Not an apology, but it’s a start._

“Well, then, I’ll just…get going.” He pushed off the door and only managed to take a few steps before his legs gave out on him. Instead of the floor, he felt a muscular arm wrap around his waist, a warm body pressed up against his side as he was held upright.

Without realizing it, he had squeezed his eyes shut as he expected the hard collision with the ground. Now, slowly opening his eyes again, his breath hitched in his throat as he locked eyes with Zoro’s, their faces inches apart. Sanji felt his face heat up and turned his head away.

“T-Thanks…” his face sizzled from embarrassment as his voice cracked.

“No problem.”

And right now was the moment where Sanji would step away and make his way to the stairs, pass them and reach for the galley, but in his current state, he was not sure if he would be able to make it without falling on his ass and making a fool out of himself.

Oh, and that would also be bad for his injuries. Probably. So, he could either save himself the possible embarrassment and ask for…Zoro’s help or attempt to go on his own. His face scrunched up at the thought, eyebrows furrowing.

“Are you okay? You’re making this really weird face, curly-brow.”

“I’m fine! I just need to…” he sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat.

_Here goes nothing, I guess._

“Actually, I was wondering if you…if you could, um, h-help me get to the…galley,” he mumbled.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Sanji snapped. “I can practically hear you smirking! Just shut up and get me to the galley, damn marimo!”

Zoro chuckled and shifted, securing his hold around Sanji’s waist, “That must have been so hard for you to admit, huh.” He held onto Zoro’s shoulder as they started moving.

“Shut it,” he grumbled, feeling Zoro’s smug smirk widen, even though Sanji had his head turned in the other direction, making his blood boil.

When they finally walked inside the galley, Zoro pushed him down to sit on the dinner table, ignoring his protests about wanting to cook. Zoro propped his swords next to Sanji against the dinner table and moved around the island to the kitchen.

“So, what do you want to make?” Zoro asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, muscles bulging as he unconsciously flexed.

Sanji blinked, snapping his eyes up to Zoro’s face, “What I want to make— I, uh, I was thinking of making something easy; maybe rump steak with mushroom and red wine, but I fail to see how I’m going to cook that if I’m just sitting over here.” He gestured wildly with his hands.

“You aren’t— well, you are, but you’re gonna sit there and guide me through it as I make it.” Zoro explained.

Sanji gawked at him for several seconds, and Zoro clicked his tongue. “Stop looking so shocked and just tell me what I have to do already!”

_O_ _h, what the fuck, to hell with it!_

“Fine!” he raised his hands in defeat and started giving Zoro instructions. For the next following ten minutes or so, Zoro remained silent and followed every direction without once questioning him.

It was…weird. Not _bad weird_ , per se, but it was definitely something Sanji never expected would ever happen. The longest they had ever gone without resulting in a fist fight or insulting each other couldn’t have been more than ten seconds.

“What exactly happened to you?” Zoro broke the silence, catching Sanji off guard.

“I…” he let out a heavy sigh and started explaining to Zoro what had taken place one week ago, thinking it as fair for him to know after everything he had done for Sanji.

“—and then, when I finally arrived at the Sunny, I collapsed.” He finished and stared down at his bandaged hand, eyebrows furrowing together, brushing a thumb over his bandaged palm.

“So, it wasn’t the marines that caused your hand injury.” Zoro confirmed, “Good.”

Sanji slammed his uninjured hand against the table, “What do you mean ‘good’?! It’s not good in any way! Chopper probably won’t allow me to cook or for god knows how long— I’m lucky that it didn’t get hurt any more badly, otherwise I’d have to—” he cut himself off, clenching his hand into a fist.

Zoro chose not to comment on it, and focused on finishing up lunch, although Sanji was sure that Zoro had understood the implied words left unsaid.

When Zoro was about to walk outside of the galley to call the others in, Sanji shot up in his seat.

“Zoro, wait.”

Zoro skidded into a halt, hand on the handle of the door. Sanji bit down on his lower lip as he stared into Zoro’s broad back.

“I…I’m sorry.” He muttered, fingers twinging nervously with the hem of his shirt.

“…for?”

“Wh—” Sanji stuttered, “What do you mean ‘for’? You know what, don’t play dumb!”

Zoro took a step back and turned his body towards him, a smirk stretched on his lips. “Oh, I know. I just want to hear you say it.”

Sanji gritted his teeth, his blood boiling. “Fine! I’m sorry for insulting you and lecturing you on about recklessness when I went and did the exact same thing and almost fucking died! There, happy?”

Zoro’s smirk widened, his sharp canines visible. “Very. Apology accepted.”

Sanji’s heart did a weird flip as he watched Zoro open the door and walk out of the galley. His fingers twitched and he let out a groan, plopping back down on his seat.

He needed a smoke.

* * *

When they were done with dinner, Sanji approached Nami.

“Nami-san.” He called, getting her attention as he leaned against the wall just outside of the galley.

Nami turned towards him, flashing him a smile, “Can I help you with anything, Sanji-kun?”

He shook his head, “No, I…” he averted his eyes, rubbing his nape, “I just wanted to apologize.”

Nami’s eyes went round, staring at him with a shocked expression. “What are you apologizing for?”

“When I got injured, I had already spent all the allowance you had given me with food ingredients…unfortunately, all that food got wasted, so we’ll have to spend even more than usual to buy food ingredients again,” he explained, and lowered his head apologetically, “I’m really sorry.”

“Well, that is unfortunate, but I guess I’ll just deduct some of your allowance on the next island.” Sanji felt a light tap on his head, but before he had any time to realize what had happened, Nami was already walking away.

He reached up with his hand and touched his head, a small smile twitching on his lips.

Maybe there was hope for him yet.

“Sanji!”

He turned to the right, raising an eyebrow at Usopp’s disheveled form. “Anything wrong, Usopp?”

Usopp flinched and looked elsewhere, twiddling with his thumbs, “N-No! Why would there be anything wrong? Everything is just dandy! I just thought, you know, to come and say hi, we haven’t seen each other—”

“Usopp, we literally had lunch together one minute ago.” Sanji interjected.

Usopp let out a nervous laugh, waving his hand dismissively, “Of course I knew that, Sanji-kun! I was just trying to be a good friend and fill you in on what you have missed— a lot can happen in one week, you know!”

Sanji stared at him with an unimpressed expression for a few seconds. He knew that Usopp was jumpy and nervous by nature, but this behavior seemed too extreme, as Usopp actually looked as if he was worried about something.

He placed his hand on Usopp’s shoulder, flashing him a comforting smile, “I made you worry, right? I’m sorry, Longnose-kun, won’t happen again.”

Usopp stared at him with a weird expression for a few moments and then surged forward, arms closing around his back, holding him desperately, but gently, mindful of his injuries. Something pointy bumped against his ear and before Sanji had time to even return the hug, Usopp jumped away.

“Ijustmissedyouandgladthatyouarealiveandbackwithusokaybye!” Sanji stood there with his arms hovering awkwardly in the air as Usopp disappeared onto the lower deck, probably hiding down in his factory.

“O…kay? That was weird,” he mumbled, and shrugged, dismissing it for the time being.

“Sanji! What are you still doing here? You should have already been sleeping by now!” Chopper scolded as he came outside of the galley.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.”

As Sanji carefully made his way towards the infirmary with a persistent and worried Chopper at his side, the afternoon sun reflected against the surface of the ocean, a faint melody of violin flowing in the background.

He was out cold as soon as his head hit the bed.

* * *

“You don’t understand, Chopper, I _need_ them.” Sanji kept tapping his foot against the floor, jaw flexing, “If I don’t have one in the next five minutes I’ll explode!”

“Chain smoking every day is what’s actually killing you! I’m sorry, Sanji, but as the doctor of this ship, I can’t allow you to smoke until you get better.” Chopper insisted, giving him an apologetic look.

Sanji jammed his itchy hands into his pockets, teeth clamping down onto the lollipop stick that Chopper had given him as a replacement.

Already, three days had passed since Sanji had woken up from his single week-long coma, and after having bought the food ingredients they needed, they had immediately set sail, not wanting to risk another run in with the marines. Therefore, Sanji had been deprived of his addiction not only three days, as Chopper was telling him, but a _whole damn week_ and three days! Just because he was unconscious for the most duration, it didn’t mean that his body didn’t feel the signs of withdrawal!

And it would probably take weeks for his injuries to completely heal, there was no way in _hell_ that Sanji would go that long without his cigarettes. He could just sneak out at night and search around the infirmary for his cigarettes. Surely, Chopper must have hid them somewhere in that room, and it probably wouldn’t be _that_ hard to find them.

Sanji let his shoulders slouch, trying to seem as if he was finally relenting on the subject. “Okay, okay, I hear you. I’ll… _try_ not to smoke, but I’m not making any promises on how long this will last.” He reasoned.

Chopper flashed him a huge smile, “That’s fine by me! Once you get over the first difficult weeks of withdrawal symptoms, it will start to get better, Sanji, you’ll see!”

As soon as Chopper walked out of the galley, Sanji’s smile slipped from his lips. He turned around and propped his hands on the kitchen counter, hunched over it as his nails dug into the wooden surface.

“T-Tonight…tonight once everyone is asleep, I’ll go retrieve my lovely cigarettes,” Sanji murmured darkly to himself, glaring holes into the sink.

Lost inside his thoughts as he was, he didn’t notice the galley door opening and closing until he felt a warm presence close to him. As he lifted his head, all he needed to see was green standing way too close to the cabinet where Sanji knew that the alcoholic beverages were, and attacked.

“And what exactly do you think you’re doing, marimo?” he stomped over and slammed his hand over the cabinet, keeping his hand there.

Zoro rained an unimpressed eyebrow at him, but besides that, didn’t take the bait. “I just want to take my booze and drink in peace— what got _your_ panties in such a twist?”

Sanji frowned and pointed his finger at Zoro, “Look here, idiot, if I don’t get to smoke, then you don’t get to drink either, capiche? Think of it as a way to support me! Won’t you do it, little marimo? We’re nakama after all, aren’t we?” he said sweetly, a sickening smile splitting his face in two.

Zoro studied him for a few seconds, silent, and then deadpanned; “Have you finally gone insane?”

“Who are you calling— _oi_ , what are you—" Sanji struggled to hold his ground as Zoro tried to push him away, but even when he was in peak form, he was still no match for Zoro’s upper body strength.

The fact that Zoro wasn’t even putting any strength to pry him away from the cabinet got on his nerves and he bodily shoved forward with all his strength, a smug smirk widening on his mouth as he managed to make Zoro stumble back a few steps.

Zoro narrowed his eyes, growling at him. “Enough already!” Zoro rushed forward and elbowed him, roughly pushing him away.

Although the action stung a bit, Sanji was surprised to find that it didn’t actually hurt him as much as he expected. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind and doubled over, falling onto his knees. He let out a groan and held onto his side, making it seem as if Zoro had actually hurt him.

“Har har, really funny. C’mon, curly-brow, nobody is buying your act, I didn’t even hit you that hard.”

Sanji ducked his head, trying to hide the wide grin as he noticed the uncertainty in Zoro’s tone. He didn’t have to wait a lot as in the next seconds, Sanji felt prying and worried hands all over.

“Hey, cook, are you still alive? I didn’t hurt you too bad, right? Just, talk to me you fucking idiot, ple—”

Then, the first snort escaped, and couldn’t hold back any longer once he saw Zoro’s pinched expression in concern. He started cackling, almost falling back on his ass. By the time he managed to calm down, his stomach hurting from the laughter, Sanji could almost feel the murderous aura Zoro was emitting.

“Oh, c’mon, did you really think that weak punch would have affected me? Think again, shitty swordsman.” he patted Zoro’s shoulder. “If the marines knew what a big softie you actually are, your famous reputation would be destroyed, you know? ‘Demon of the East’, my ass. We should put a sign outside the Sunny; ‘beware of overprotective dog’.” He placed his hand on his chin, humming in agreement to his own genius idea.

“Don’t you think so, too?” he teased, giggling.

Suddenly, he heard a choking sound and glanced up, knitting his eyebrows together at the sight of Zoro sitting further away from him, his back turned to Sanji.

“Oi, the fuck are you doing?”

Sanji flinched as Zoro abruptly shot up to his feet. “I need to leave.” He announced in a strained tone and immediately bolted outside the galley, leaving Sanji utterly bewildered on the floor.

“Weirdo…” he mumbled to himself, and shrugged a shoulder.

There was really no use trying to understand Zoro.

* * *

When Sanji sneaked that night into the infirmary, he spent hours searching through the cabinets and drawers, although there were no signs of his beloved cigarettes. At first, he thought that maybe Chopper would have hidden them somewhere else, somewhere not as easily accessible, but then a sudden thought struck his mind, white hot dread taking his chest hostage.

What if Chopper had thrown them away?

* * *

Sanji felt his eye twitch as a whine was heard from below him for the umpteenth time, a black mass of fur rubbing against him.

“I told you, you can’t eat dinner before anyone else! I get that you’re hungry, but you have to wait like a civilized person until I’m done, so we can eat all together, Luffy!” he fumed, continuing steering the pot and ignoring the black wolf nudging him and pawing at him.

“I’m sorry, it seems like I had too high expectations for you— honestly, I don’t even know what I was thinking when I placed ‘civilized’ and ‘Luffy’ in the same sentence.”

The black wolf huffed, and turned his head away from Sanji as if he was offended. “Oh, do not give me that attitude, mister! If you were the least bit civilized and had some human decency into you, you’d wait like a good boy and without any complaints.”

The wolf remained quiet, completely ignoring him. Sanji sighed, grumbling under his breath. “Will you stop bothering me and let me do my job if I give you a treat?” he offered.

The wolf’s ears perked up, his tail started wagging back and forth excitedly, and soon, Sanji found himself with a lapful of wolf, licking his face.

“I get it, I get it! Will you get off me now? And stop with the face licking, it’s gross!” the wolf yapped happily and moved away, waiting at Sanji’s side, his tail thumping against the wooden floor beneath him.

When Sanji finally gave Luffy something to munch on, he moved back to his cooking, but of course, his peaceful time was soon over, as Luffy, especially in his wolf form, didn’t need more than a few seconds to literally swallow whatever edible thing he was given. Shortly, they got back to arguing again -or Sanji just yelling at Luffy- as the wolf had wrapped himself around his legs and refused to move.

“Um, Sanji, what’s going on?”

Sanji perked up, a small smile forming on his face as he saw Usopp walk in.

“Usopp, my favorite man! Would you come over here and help me out a bit?”

“I’m sorry, Sanji, but I already did my babysitting turn last time, it’s your turn to babysit Luffy now,” Usopp said as he assessed what was happening and took a seat at the dinner table.

“I can’t cook, though!” he insisted, and nudged the wolf with his foot.

Instead of leaving him alone, the wolf slightly raised his head and nuzzled against Sanji’s ankle, rumbling in his throat lowly, almost similar to a cat’s purr. He let out a heavy sigh and turned his attention back to cooking. “Why are you here, anyway? Dinner isn’t ready yet.”

“I heard yelling and thought I’d come check what’s going on— ” Usopp’s eyes went round, and he started waving his arms around anxiously, “Y-You know, not that I’m implying anything, it’s just caught me off guard and I thought something had happened, so I—”

Sanji waved his hand dismissively, “Well, as you can see, I’m just dandy— I was scolding him for being so impatient. It seems like I’m not immune to this little shit, ain’t that right, Captain?”

The black wolf by his feet barked happily and he snorted, slightly bending down to pat him. “Good boy.” The wolf turned his head and nuzzled against Sanji’s palm.

“By the way, Usopp, why does he do that?”

“Do what?”

“This…rubbing-clinging-licking thing he does. He was doing it before too, but since we set sail from the last island, he has been doing it nonstop. I would even go as far as to say that he has been following me whenever I go.” He explained, eyebrows knitting.

Now that he thinks about it, Zoro has shown some similar signs, although not as drastic. Sanji would sometimes catch Zoro sleeping just beside the galley, and has offered many times to stay behind and help Sanji with washing the dishes, or even help him _cook_ , just like he had done for the first time after he had woken up.

Oddly enough, he and Zoro had started spending more time together, and now, even _hours_ would go by without resulting in a fist fight or yelling insults at each other. It was definitely something new and weird, but surprisingly, Sanji realized that he…honestly didn’t mind.

“Sanji? You okay?”

Sanji blinked, turning to glance over his shoulder at Usopp, “What?”

Usopp’s features were pinched in a concerned expression, “I was talking to you, but you didn’t seem to be responding. You even stopped cooking and if it wasn’t for Luffy, you might have burned your hand.”

He hadn’t noticed, but he was currently pushed back against the kitchen’s island behind him, the wolf standing on all fours, almost towering over him as he whined and rubbed his snout against Sanji’s head.

“I think you might have blacked out there for a second, are you sure you’re okay? Perhaps we too hasty in letting you back in the kitchen, I’ll go call Chopper—”

“No!” he snapped, making Usopp flinch. Sanji muttered an apology to Luffy, lifting his hand to pet the wolf and then turned his attention back to Usopp. “Seriously, Usopp, I’m fine, I was just lost in thoughts, there’s no need to call Chopper.”

“At least let him do a quick check up—”

Suddenly, the door was slammed open, revealing a disoriented Zoro. As soon as Zoro’s eyes fell on him, Sanji shivered from the intensity of that gaze.

“Did anything happen? I thought I heard the curly-cook scream—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Even you?! Will you all just lay off my case for once? I don’t know what is going on with you, or if it’s just a weird werewolf thing, but to be honest, it’s getting quite tiring! I’m not gonna drop dead the moment you take your eyes off me, you know?” he exploded, and took a step away from Luffy, rubbing his itching palm with his thumb.

Everyone else remained quiet, whilst Luffy, still in his werewolf form, nudged Sanji’s hand, letting out a whimpering cry, the pitiful sound making Sanji feel bad for snapping at them like that.

Then, the rest of the crew showed up at the door, Nami being in the lead, “What exactly is going on in here?”

“It’s nothing,” Sanji responded quickly, head lowered, “everything’s good. We’re fine, I’m—”

“Cook-san.” Robin interrupted, stepping forward. “Your hand is hurt.”

Sanji placed his throbbing hand behind his back, eyes glued to the ground, “I’m _fine_.”

“No, you aren’t.”

A warm and calloused hand was wrapped around his wrist and yanked his hand forward. “Stop being such an idiot and let us help you.”

_Weakling,_ his mind screamed at him, _how dare you bruise? How dare you feel?_

_How dare you be human?_

“We are nakama, aren’t we?” Zoro said.

_Don’t ever admit that I’m your father in front of other people!_ What was supposed to be his guardian, his protector, yet became his murderer, screamed at him from the depth of his mind.

“…sorry.” He apologized, not daring to meet anyone’s gaze. Zoro sighed and turned around, “Chopper, come take a look at his hand; it doesn’t seem bad, but I’m not an expert either. The rest of you; out.”

From that point, everything became background noise, his body moving on autopilot as Chopper gently guided him to sit on the galley’s couch.

Sanji never escaped.

* * *

That same night, nightmares came back to haunt Sanji. It wasn’t a rare occurrence, not really. Night terrors were always recurring every couple of days. He dreamed about his prison, his captors and murderers, about the one human that brought light into his life, but became an angel before her time, about the little girl that wanted to save the world but was too small and insignificant, powerless.

Although, this time, Sanji didn’t dream about any of those things. No, Sanji dreamed of a boy. A boy with a big dream. A boy with a huge heart. A boy that fought for their future.

In reality, Sanji knew how this had ended, knew that the boy with the big dream and huge heart had won. However, his mind was a tricky and wicked place, and instead showed Sanji that the boy was gone, sacrificed himself for them.

In his wake, only three broken swords remained.

When Sanji finally escaped from the clutches of his mind and awoke into the real world, his hands were trembling, cold sweat rolling down his forehead. He awkwardly stumbled out of his bunk bed (thankfully he had taken the lower one), and glanced at the bed above him, a sigh of relief escaping his lips once he found Zoro snoring away, completely undisturbed.

Sanji knew that right about now, it would be Robin’s turn of night watch, so instead of going out in the open deck, he climbed down into the aquarium. He sat crossed legged on the couch, propped his elbow on top of it and then rested his chin on his palm.

He allowed himself to get lost in the crystal blue, watching as all different kinds of fish swam peacefully around each other, a soothing wave crashing over him. The other memories, he could handle. Sanji knew how to cope whenever flashes of that dark, cold place haunted his mind, as those were something he had already experienced and dealt with, but this? This new, impending fear of losing someone and not being able to do anything but just watch as it happens?

Sanji didn’t know how to control it from spiraling, and frankly, it was messing up his head badly. Why this particular dream? Why recall a fight in which everything turned out for the better in the end?

Why _him_ , of all people?

While it might be true that after Thriller Bark, he and Zoro _did_ get closer (meaning to a level at which they could finally tolerate each other’s presence) it didn’t make sense for Sanji’s mind to construct that image.

And most importantly, why did the thought of Zoro dying make Sanji so…distraught?

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. What was he even thinking? Why would he be distraught about _Zoro_ , of all people? Yes, he’d be sad, but not _distraught_. Sanji was still probably too shaken from the dream and decided not to dwell on that thought much further. Instead, he turned his attention back on the aquarium, letting his mind rest, for once.

After a short time, a scratching sound snapped him out of his trance and he turned around, eyes going round as he found an emerald wolf standing a few feet away, staring at him.

“Uh…shouldn’t you be sleeping?” he asked after a long pause of silence.

The wolf lifted his head and stared down at him, as if trying to say _‘shouldn’t you be, too?’_

Sanji waved his hand dismissively, “Yeah, yeah, I know, shut up.” The wolf walked leisurely and laid down on the floor next to him. Sanji stared at him in shock for a few seconds, but then just sighed and decided to let it be, as he didn’t have the energy to cause a scene right now.

After a few moments of silence, Sanji spoke, eyes still glued in the water tank, “You know, when I was injured back in that island, and I leaned against a tree to get a breather, I could feel myself slowly slipping away, not even knowing if I was going to wake up again.”

“In those last moments, I remember saying in my head; _‘I really wished I could see the ocean one last time’_ ,” he confessed and placed his hand flat against the water tank. “The ocean has helped me get through a lot of hardships, has helped me heal…but it can also become quite a vicious creature.”

Sanji smiled bitterly, “I have learned that the hard way.”

Suddenly, he felt something furry nudge against his elbow and Sanji turned his head to the side, coming face to face with the wolf’s face. He lifted his hand and reached over, gently petting the wolf on its head, smiling as it shut his eyes.

“Told you you’re a softie, marimo,” he chuckled and scratched behind the wolf’s ear, “but then again, this is probably another dream— although, I don’t mind it much, it’s much better than the previous.”

The wolf let out a huff, but remained there, his head almost resting on Sanji’s lap as he kept petting him. After some time, his eyes started to droop, and soon, Sanji found himself being lulled into a peaceful sleep by the warm presence wrapped around him.

The next morning, Sanji found himself waking up in his bunk bed. For a moment, he was disoriented, as he was pretty sure that he had gone down to the aquarium and— and opened up to _Zoro_.

As Sanji got up, he found Zoro sound asleep in his own bunk bed, and then decided that whatever had supposedly happened yesterday night, was probably a fever dream.

* * *

Things started to spiral down when the full moon arrived.

Growing up in the Baratie, Sanji didn’t have the chance to come into contact with many werewolves, as the restaurant itself didn’t actually have any werewolves for chefs. So, really, the only experience Sanji had with these beings were the rare visitors that happened to be one of them.

Thus, no one had prepared Sanji for the absolute mayhem that the full moon would be and just how much it’d change his life.

A few days just before the lunar event, he started noticing small details in the strange behavior on all werewolves in the crew. They would be more short-tempered and snap at each other, even Luffy and Usopp! In addition, they would also choose to steer clear from each other and keep physical touch to a bare minimum.

Sanji managed to figure out on his own that a full moon was probably not a good period for werewolves. He decided that it would be better for everyone involved, if he stayed away from them as much as possible until the full moon had passed.

He had thought that was the case for everyone, but Zoro kept…accidentally touching him and always ended up close to him. He doubted that it was really accidental, but Sanji didn’t know how else to address Zoro’s odd behavior. It was like the man was craving for physical intimacy, which Sanji could understand, but why him? Wouldn’t it make more sense for Zoro to seek after another wolf?

The swordsman, oddly, became more and more…protective towards him? Sanji didn’t know how else to describe it, but whenever Sanji was about to do anything moderately ‘dangerous’ by Zoro’s standards, the man would always move him aside and do it in his stead, and quite frankly, it had been getting on his nerves. Every time Sanji wanted to make dinner? Zoro was there to pester him about it and refused to leave until he was assisting him and watching over him like a hawk.

Seriously, how was walking down the stairs even a dangerous thing?

Zoro had even hissed at Nami once when Sanji happened to be admiring one of her newest additions in her map designs!

Either way, he had tried to stay away from them as much as possible. Key word; tried. Then, of course, Sanji had to be curious and thought that leaving his bunk bed and checking out what was happening up in the crow’s nest, where Zoro was stationed for the night, would be a brilliant idea.

It wasn’t.

Sanji had kept hearing these low sounds coming from the crow’s nest, and at first, he thought that it was just weird wolf behavior, but then it started sounding like Zoro was in actual _pain_ , and before Sanji even knew it, he had climbed up in the crow’s nest.

Inside, all lights were off, the only source of light, although poor, was the moonlight of the full moon gleaming through the windows. He scanned the room quickly, and then from the corner of his eye he noticed a human sized lump shaking under some covers.

“Zoro…?” He asked hesitantly, almost whispering, yet the lump violently flinched and let out a strained cry.

Sanji moved forward, but in a matter of seconds, he found himself pinned down, a warm, _human_ body holding him in place.

“I-Idiot, you shouldn’t— shouldn’t have c-come here…” Zoro panted heavily against his ear, “y-you have a death wish?”

Sanji placed his hands on Zoro’s shoulders, _a lot warmer than usual_ , he noted, but didn’t make any attempt to push him off, as he didn’t know if such an action would seem hostile and send Zoro into a frenzy. “Well, to be honest, I don’t even know why I’m here myself, I just heard weird sounds and thought you were dying, so I came for a check-up— is the same happening to everyone else, too?”

Zoro let out a shaky laughter and lowered his head, lips awfully close to Sanji’s neck. “Y-Yeah, but I would advise y-you not…not to get c-close to them. Dangerous.”

Sanji placed a bit of strength in his hands as he pushed at Zoro’s shoulders, trying to pry the heavy man off him. “What if they need something and can’t get it, though? Like water or food? I have to be there for them—”

“No! You can’t leave me!” Zoro bellowed, tightening his grip around Sanji. He ceased all movements and stared with wide eyes at the ceiling above as Zoro outright _whined_ and held desperately onto him.

“Y-You…you _can’t_. Not again. After…after you almost d-died, I—” Zoro choked back a sob and buried his head against Sanji’s shoulder, “d-don’t make me go through that again, I…I won’t be able to survive it. I _need_ you.”

Sanji’s heart did a weird flip, his face immediately heated up as he opened and closed his mouth dumbly.

This…this couldn’t be Zoro, right? There was no way, _no way_ this was the Zoro he knew. The Zoro that ignored his existence for the most part of the day and only focused on training and sleeping. The Zoro that would only willingly talk to him when he wanted to get wasted with booze.

And yet, here he was, clinging onto Sanji like a terrified child. Was this what the full moon did to werewolves? Completely exposed their suppressed emotions, causing chaos and havoc inside their mind and heart?

But Zoro…Zoro was just incapable of human emotion! Countless arguments and fights wasted into trying to make Zoro understand some human decency and perception, but the man always was so insensitive and ignorant!

“Sanji…”

_So, then why—_

“ _Sanji_ …”

Sanji turned his head away, his features twisted, ears burning red.

_Why was Zoro calling out his name so desperately?_

Suddenly, he felt something sharp against the juncture of his neck and he panicked. “Zoro, no! Get off!” he tried to push Zoro off, tried kicking him, but the man above him wouldn’t budge.

“ _Zoro!_ ” he screamed, and thankfully, managed to snap Zoro out of it as the man cursed loudly above him and pushed himself away from Sanji.

Sanji slowly got up, hand awkwardly reaching towards Zoro’s trembling form, “Zoro—”

“Get away!” he froze as Zoro turned around, a wild glint in his eyes. “I can’t hold it for much longer!”

Sanji stood there frozen, gaping with wide eyes as Zoro let out a gut-wrenching scream and hunched over. He watched, fascinated and mortified at the same time as Zoro slowly transformed, the sound of bones cracking and snapping, reforming, causing a sickening feeling in his stomach, but his body refused to move.

Soon, Sanji was staring close up at the biggest wolf he has ever seen, towering high over him, his emerald fur shining like diamonds under the moonlight’s gleam. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat, his lower lip trembling as fully black eyes glared back at him.

It wasn’t like Sanji hadn’t ever seen Zoro’s wolf form before, but this time it was more…animalistic. Something prime and predatory, like his consciousness had actually been swallowed by instincts.

The wolf took one step forward and he jerked back by impulse, cursing internally at himself. The wolf stopped and tilted his head to the side, like he was trying to read him.

So far, Zoro didn’t seem like he was very hostile, cause if he wanted to shred him to pieces, he would have already done it from the very first second. Sanji took a deep breath and with newfound courage, slowly, and very carefully approached the wolf. He simultaneously raised his right arm, reaching out towards him. Once Sanji had closed the gap between them, the wolf ducked his head, allowing Sanji to pet him.

He let out the breath he was holding and gently ran his hand through the emerald fur. He grimaced as the wolf raised his head and blew out air against his face. Then, the corner of his lips twitched into a small smile as Zoro nuzzled his snout against Sanji’s cheek.

After a few minutes, the wolf took a few steps back, circled around an area and then settled down, his tail thumping down against the wooden floor as he kept staring at Sanji expectantly. He hesitated, but slowly walked over, sat down and leaned against the wolf’s body, warmth immediately engulfing his body.

Sanji might not know much about werewolves and their customs, but he wasn’t as dense as others thought he was. And Zoro... he knew that shitty swordsman. Knew that the man wouldn’t show such a vulnerable side to just anybody, wouldn’t show _weakness_ so easily.

With a startling realization, all color drained out of his face. Despite knowing this, Sanji couldn’t find himself to be revolted by the idea of Zoro possibly harboring feelings for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems like Sanji finally realized Zoro's feelings, yay! Now, things will start getting even MORE complicated, because Sanji! and his! ability of being so deep in denial! he'll be drowning in it! lmao kdfhsdhfkj anyways hope you enjoyed this one <3


	4. four

Sanji’s stressed. After days of continuous searching, Sanji had managed to find his cigarettes and since then, had been chain smoking like a damn chimney, even though that has done nothing to ease his nerves. On the contrary, it has probably helped spike them up even more, if that was possible.

Even since the full moon incident five days ago, Sanji had been avoiding Zoro like a plague, _again_. Ever since he had found out about Zoro’s… _feelings_ towards him, Sanji hasn’t been able to get one damn second of rest, and honestly, it’s been driving him insane!

Without even wanting to, he has started noticing small details and things Zoro does. Like how he is the first to dive into the sea with no hesitation every time Luffy has gone overboard, how he helps around the crew with whatever they might need. At first, Sanji always thought that Zoro was a selfish asshole that only cared about himself and his own goals, but Sanji quickly realized that it was all a front. Now, it’s as if he can finally _see_ things that weren’t there before.

How Zoro grumbles and complains, but always helps Nami with whatever she might need assistance with, cuddling with Chopper when the little doctor is afraid to sleep on his own at night, spending time with Captain— Sanji one time even saw them playing while in their wolf forms!

And then, there are the things Zoro does for him. Sanji hadn’t noticed it before, but when he was still injured and in a critical state, Zoro would always be outside the infirmary, as if _guarding_ him. Zoro would offer his help silently, go out of his way to help him get from point a to point b, offer to _cook_ in his stead. Was always there for him, grounding him, a silent pillar in his life. Always stood right next to him, facing together their enemies, fighting with him. _For_ him.

Up until now, Sanji had written it all off as Zoro being ignorant and selfish just because he couldn’t see further than his own problems. Turns out, _he_ was the selfish one. What had he ever done for Zoro?

These past five days, his whole world was rattled, and Sanji had no idea how to stop it from escalating.

“Oi, cook.”

Sanji jerked, the pan almost dropping from his hands. He cursed as he noticed that some of its contents spilled on the counter and started wiping it away, not once turning his head to acknowledge Zoro.

“What the fuck do you want, marimo? Can’t you see I’m busy? If you want your damn booze, go and get it on your own.” He grumbled, and kept working on finishing up his cooking, tensing as Zoro walked silently behind him.

Also, it seemed like Zoro had no recollection of what had taken place five days ago in the full moon. Sanji didn’t know if it was a common occurrence for werewolves not to have any memories of events that happened during a full moon, but at this point, Sanji wouldn’t be that surprised.

During these five days since the full moon, Zoro hadn’t once confronted him about what had happened. Either he was really fucking good at hiding it and pretending that nothing had happened, or Zoro really had no memory of it. Sanji knew that Zoro could suppress his emotions well, but he was absolutely sure that it wasn’t the case this time. So, to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment, he decided not to address the subject and let things be.

He mentally noted to later ask Robin if she had any book about werewolves.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

Sanji’s shoulders tensed as he noticed from the corner of his eyes that Zoro was leaning against the island behind him. “No, I’m not— why would I? You’re just spewing bullshit.” He disagreed, lowering the flame on the stove.

“I have been here for over ten minutes,” Zoro continued, “not once have you turned to look at me.”

Sanji’s heart leapt in his throat as he heard Zoro closing in and stopping right behind him. His hands became clammy with sweat, his posture hunched. Why was he even reacting this way? It was just Zoro, it’s not like that green-haired idiot could do anything to him. If- If Sanji ignored him, perhaps he would give up and leave, probably go sulk somewhere alone and start avoiding him too out of stubbornness.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him around, locking him in place against the kitchen counter. Sanji hung his head, eyes glued on the floor, his heart pounding like crazy.

“Sanji.”

A lump formed in his throat, clenching his trembling hands into fists. His whole face flushed, ears buzzing as the blood rushed to his head.

“Look at me.”

Sanji knew that if he tried to speak now, his voice would fail him, so he remained quiet, and heard Zoro click his tongue.

“Is it something I did?”

He shook his head, “No, it’s nothing. Just, leave it alone, alright?” he rejoiced at the fact that his voice didn’t falter much. For a few seconds Zoro remained quiet, and then tightened his hold on Sanji’s shoulder.

“Did something happen on the night of the full moon?”

Sanji’s body went rigid, a small gasp escaping his lips.

_Fuck._

“What happened.” Zoro demanded, and when he got no response, started shaking Sanji’s shoulder. “What the hell happened? What, did the sight repulse you that fucking much? Do you hate me even more now? Is—”

“That’s not it!” he shot, snapping his head up.

_Bad decision_ , he thought as he locked eyes with Zoro’s narrowed, stormy gaze.

“I— it’s not—” he bit down hard on his lower lip, tasting copper, “I told you, nothing fucking happened, alright?! Now, leave me the fuck alone, I have shit to do!” he stared back at Zoro with determination, hoping that he would just back off before Sanji would—

Before he would…do what, exactly? What was he getting so worked up for? Sure, now that he knew about Zoro’s feelings, maybe things would be slightly awkward on his part, but why was Sanji acting like this, too? What was he being so… _flustered_ about?

Retreating footsteps is what snapped him back to reality, and he realized that Zoro wasn’t standing in front of him anymore, but was about to walk outside of the galley.

As Zoro opened the door, he paused. “I got the message loud and clear. I won’t bother you anymore.” Sanji watched, eyes wide as Zoro closed the door behind him.

He should feel happy that Zoro finally relented and backed off, happy that he wouldn’t pester Sanji so much. At least, now, he was saved from the awkwardness he’d have to feel every time he’d interact with Zoro and pretend like nothing had happened. That’s what we wanted, right?

Then, why did guilt seize his chest, feeling like he could barely breathe?

* * *

Sanji had fucked up. He had fucked up _big time_.

Not only was Zoro actively ignoring his existence (okay, that was his fault, he’d admit that much) but now Nami, Usopp and even Luffy were acting differently towards him, and _not_ the good kind of different.

They weren’t outright ignoring him as Zoro was, but it was still enough for Sanji to realize that they were angry, probably for what had happened between him and Zoro. If Zoro had shared it with them, Sanji didn’t know, but the swordsman was more of a type to brood on his own, and Sanji knew for a fact that there was no way he’d open up to Nami about it.

But then again, what did Sanji know about werewolves? Absolutely nothing. At least the rest of the crew didn’t seem to notice how things had shifted, so Robin would still be willing to lend him a book or two.

Sanji wanted to patch things up between him and Zoro, he really did. He thought that after a while, Zoro would give in and just start acting normally around Sanji, but almost two weeks had passed and nothing had changed.

During these two weeks, Sanji also realized just how… _alone_ he felt without having Zoro at his side. Before the full moon, he and Zoro had started spending more time together, although unintentionally, it had happened. They still bickered and fought, but also cooked together and sat in silence together, either watching the crew play games or just gaze at the night sky at nighttime when they couldn’t sleep, both haunted by past ghosts.

And now, for everything to have… _ceased_ so suddenly, Sanji realized how much he _missed_ it.

He scrunched up his nose, eyebrows furrowing. Did he just admit that he missed Zoro’s company? That he missed _Zoro?_

He let out a heavy sigh, banging his head against the cabinet above. “I’m going fucking insane.”

The thing was, he had tried to patch things up with Zoro, but every time he started walking towards him (which would most of the time be the crowd’s nest, as the swordsman refused to even show up for _dinner_ ) Sanji would get _cold feet_ , his whole body just freezing in place and refusing to move any further.

What would Sanji tell him, anyway? ‘It’s not you, it’s me?’ Sanji couldn’t tell him why he was so freaked out without exposing the events that took place during the full moon, as he didn’t want to make things awkward between them.

Was it really worth it, though?

A ping snapped him back to reality and he rushed over to the Rice Cooker, pressing the off button. Sanji opened up the lid, grabbed a cut board and got into work. When he was done, he took a step back and nodded, a satisfied smile on his face at the perfectly cooked onigiri that were spread on the platter.

Then, he walked towards the upper cabinet close to the fridge and grabbed one of Zoro’s bottles. He grabbed the platter and headed towards the door. Once he had successfully opened it with his foot, he quickly made his way towards the crow’s nest. Sanji placed the bottle on top of the platter and climbed up the rope. When he reached the hatch door, he swiftly opened it, placed the platter and the bottle on the floor and headed back down again.

Sanji rushed towards the upper deck and paused right outside of the library. He adjusted his tie and, as he raised his hand to knock, heard a smooth voice address him.

Slowly, he opened the door and stepped inside. Robin was sitting at the hexagon-shaped table in the middle, a book in her hand and another few stacked beside her.

“Ah, cook-san, what a surprise. Can I assist you with anything?” Robin questioned, set down her book and turned towards him.

Sanji reached back and rubbed his nape, “Hello, my beautiful Robin-chan! I was thinking if you could maybe— if you had any books about werewolves?”

Robin’s eyes went round, and then a peculiar glint flashed in her eyes, a small smile forming on her lips. “I’ll be right back.” She stood up and walked towards a bookshelf. After a few minutes, she approached him and handed him over a sage colored book.

“If you have any more questions, I’d be glad to help.” Robin offered.

A wide smile spread on his lips and bowed, “Thank you so much, Robin-chan! I’ll be forever indebted to you!”

After a brief goodbye, Sanji walked outside and headed towards the galley once again, ignoring the commotion that was going on in the main deck. Once inside, Sanji took a seat and started shuffling through the book.

**_Werewolf Mythology_ **

_According to very old legends, werewolves used to be regular wolves, who were the guardians of men. Even though they loved men, they envied them and their ability to walk and speak and do all the things they never could._

_So, the wolves stood up, mimicked men, and behaved like them, but it wasn't enough. They became so jealous they prayed to the moon and to mother nature, asking her to grant them the ability to be human. Finally, they got their wish and thus, the werewolf was born. A creature who could take the shape of both human and beast, and be both in harmony._

_After a while, man became jealous of the werewolf's strength and abilities and cast them out, which is why now the werewolves no longer associate with humans. Thousands of years passed, and humans forgot about the wolves and began hunting and killing them for meat and for pleasure. This angered the wolves and caused them to attack in retaliation. Their fights made them realize that the abilities they wished for came with a price: they caused the humans who were bitten to become like them. They also realized that their children were born human. Every gift must come with a price._

_The wolves retreated more into the wild, cutting themselves off completely from human society and man grew to be the dominant creature on the planet._

_Now in modern days, the werewolves continue to stay hidden in the wild, living as both man and beast. Some live closer to civilization and even in it, in secret._

That was certainly interesting. Sanji had once heard of a story about the creation of werewolves, but it was nothing compared to this. Although, it wasn’t quite what Sanji was searching for, so he flipped through some more pages.

**_Packs_ **

_Pack is synonymous with ‘family’ for werewolves. They are naturally loyal creatures. Treachery is one of the most despicable crimes to their kind. Hence it has the most severe punishment; exile and, sometimes, even death._

_Werewolf packs are hierarchical. In studies of social behavior, the highest-ranking individual is sometimes designated as the "alpha". Males, females, or both, can be alphas, depending on the species. Members of the same social group may exhibit subordinate behaviors towards the alpha. In a hierarchical community, assigned ranks are used in ethology studies, sometimes described as "betas" and "omegas”._

_Werewolves show their affection towards each other in various ways._

_Despite their somewhat steely and intimidating exteriors, wolves can actually be loving animals. Wolves often show their affectionate and merry sides by gently nibbling on each other’s faces. Although it may appear to outsiders as being hostile, the nibbling is a sign of endearment._

_Subsequently, wolf affection lies heavily in close tactility. By huddling up together and touching directly, wolves exchange positive feelings and make their bonds tighter. When a couple of wolves snuggle together in this manner, you may even notice one placing his head right on top of the other individual's neck._

Sanji leaned back in his seat, fiddling with the edge of the page. So, all these times Luffy used him as a human couch and literally squashed him, was him showing affection? A flush crept up his face as he remembered that he had cuddled up with Zoro in his wolf form and slept the night of the full moon.

**_Mating; Introduction_ **

Sanji gulped, tugged at his collar, and kept reading.

_Traditionally, sexual intercourse is performed for the specific purpose of bringing young ones into the world, and only the alpha male and female have the children in the pack. But, in the world of humans, that is difficult to do, so sexual intercourse like human nature is both recreational and for creating offspring._

_Just like regular wolves, werewolves have cycles of heat, in which they have a strong desire to mate. This heat cycle normally lasts five to ten days._

Sanji did a double take, reading again through that last line. Five to ten days? How much stamina can someone have to keep fucking ten days continuously? Well, with Zoro’s exceptional stamina, the man could probably go even more than that—

“Stop!” he cried out and slammed his hands against the table. He was met back with silence, as he was alone in the galley, and let out a shaky breath. God, this whole thing had messed up with his head _bad_.

**_Mating; Length_ **

_The ritual itself typically lasts for several hours (seven is to be said the longest), but the actual length depends on how close the ritual is to the full moon during the period. The closer it is to the full moon, the longer the ritual, due to the increase of stamina the werewolves possess in the days upcoming to the full moon._

**_Mating; The Invitation_ **

_Before the mating ritual can begin, an ‘invitation’ must be made by a werewolf partner. This initial invitation comes in the form of a nip in the area around the neck. The invited partner accepts this invitation by nipping, licking, or kissing the area around the throat of the inviter._

Sanji’s eyes went round, his whole face blazing hot red, blood pounding in his ears. During the night of the full moon, Sanji vividly remembers that Zoro had him pinned down and tried to…tried to bite him close to his neck.

Did Zoro consider him as…potential mate? Having feelings for someone was one thing, but thinking of him as a _potential mate,_ of all things, was just…Sanji continued on, locking his thoughts away in the back of his mind.

**_Mating; Courtship_ **

_While it is not necessarily a courtship, this term refers to the acts done prior to the full moon. These acts are small in nature and follow the initial mating invitation._

  1. **_Yearning to be physically close to mate_**



_In the upcoming days prior to the full moon, werewolves will typically feel an increase in desire to be close to their mate. It is recommended that partners have a discussion beforehand on how comfortable they are with being followed or clung to in order to establish a compromise._

  1. **_Protectiveness/possessiveness towards partner_**



_Werewolves are naturally protective to those they care about and many have a habit of being somewhat possessive. These tendencies are believed to increase before mating._

**_Mating; During the Ritual_ **

  1. **_Biting_**



_There are two types of bites. One to turn someone into a werewolf and the other during mating, the mate bite. Its purpose is to bind the two mates together, and it must always be located on the nape of the neck. It is said that the mating bites are rarely painful. In addition to that, non-werewolf partners are encouraged, but not required to return the bites._

_The mating bite demonstrates the equality between mating pairs. It is vital for mating pairs to regard each other as equal. They are used as an act of marking a mate as one’s own._

  1. **_Insistent Licking_**



_Whether it is an act of affection or merely obsession is debatable, but werewolves tend to insistently want to lick their mates during the mating ritual._

  1. **_Mating/Intercourse_**



_This can be done either in human or wolf-form, although many prefer to do it in human form._

**_Mating; After the Ritual_ **

  1. **_‘Cleaning’ (via tongue)_**



_It is common for werewolves to ‘clean’ their mates after mating. This habit is usually done immediately after mating and on the following day._

  1. **_Bonding Time_**



_Mated pairs usually spend most of the day together as a way of simply being together—_

Sanji slammed the book shut and pushed himself away from the table, stumbling a few steps away. His chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, face flushed and hair overly disheveled.

That was too much detailed information that Sanji did _not_ need to have knowledge of. Why did he even continue reading this? It’s not like Sanji would ever reciprocate, he was just curious. The whole point of reading the book was to learn about werewolves, right?

Sanji snorted, shook his head and walked over to grab the book. Precisely, it was just mere curiosity— who, in their right mind, would even want to date someone like _Zoro_? Not only did that green-haired neanderthal lack class, but he was also a muscle-headed idiot that only cared about his swords. Sanji highly doubted that algae even knew what romanticism and suave meant.

Okay, he would at least admit that Zoro was very loyal and powerful, powerful enough to match Sanji’s strength and stand beside him in fights, even considerate towards his crew, but that was it. And Sanji wasn’t so cheap. Sanji required his partner to be delicate, to share his view on things and his passion on cooking, and most importantly, to have some god damn fashion sense.

That _godawful_ green haramaki was an insult to the fashion industry! And the rest? The design? The way Zoro just wore plain black pants and a white shirt? An extremely, undersized shirt that clung on his chest, his bulging, muscled pecs and abs visible for everyone to see—

In conclusion, Zoro barely met any of Sanji’s criteria. Perhaps if Sanji ignored everything and just continued on as if everything was normal, perhaps Zoro would gradually start to lose interest.

“Ahoy! Land ahead!” Sanji perked up as he heard Luffy’s muffled yell and quickly walked outside, standing against the railing. He gazed towards the horizon, his eyes detecting the island in the distance.

Then, he turned his head towards the main deck, about to address Nami, when he caught sight of Zoro. His breath hitched in his throat as Zoro stood there, staring out towards the sea, the sunrays falling over his tan skin, turning it into gold.

What Sanji was not aware of was the pair of watchful eyes on the wall next to him, watching him in amusement.

* * *

“The Log Pose will reset in two weeks’ time, so we have plenty of time to settle down and do whatever we want, but do _not_ go around spending all of your money! If you spent one extra Beli, I’ll know.” Nami threatened, her gaze piercing through each and every one of them.

“Now, as for the positions, for these two weeks, Sanji and Zoro will stay at the Sunny for guard watch while the rest disembark on the island.” Nami announced and started hanging the rest of their allowance.

Sanji took a step forward, “W-Wait, Nami-san, I get why you would want to have me on guard watch considering what had happened on the previous island, but who will buy food ingredients?”

Nami turned towards him, hands placed on her hips, “You know, Sanji-kun, I am perfectly capable of buying everything that we need— you just sit back and relax, enjoy your time here as much as you can, okay?” Nami grinned and patted him on the cheek as he passed by him.

“You know I would never insult you in such a way, my lovely Nami-swan! I just thought that—” suddenly, a loud bang interrupted him, and he turned up, pressing his lips into a tight line as he noticed the few debris falling down from the crow’s nest hatch door.

Sanji sighed and jammed his hands into his pockets, “These two weeks are going to be hell.” He grumbled under his breath.

“Zoro-bro! That was _so_ not fucking cool, man!” Franky yelled and stomped his foot on the floor, cursing low under his breath about ‘ungrateful little brats’.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, or who’s at fault, and frankly, I don’t want to know, but whatever it is…you have to fix it, Sanji-kun. It might not seem like it, but it’s affecting the crew.” Nami advised, and flashed Sanji an encouraging smile, “So, we’ll leave it in your capable hands! See you in one week, Sanji-kun!”

“Whoo-hoo! Adventure!” Luffy exclaimed as he jumped off the ship and onto the ground below, already running off on his own.

“Good luck, Sanji-san, I hope all will be well between you two, soon,” Brook said, touching him lightly on the shoulder as he passed him by.

“Thanks, Brook.” He said, a weak smile twitching on his lips as he watched the rest of the crew leave.

When they all disappeared, heading towards the island, Sanji turned towards the crow’s nest with a troubled expression.

This week was going to be long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DID Y'ALL SEE THE MOST RECENT EPISODE??? FINALLY WE GOT OUR ZOSAN REUNION!! AND OF COURSE THE FIRST THING THEY'D DO IS ADOPT OTOKO! God, I'm so happy, and as a gift for their reunion, I decided to upload today! Ah, I love my two idiotic gays so much...


	5. five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Attempted sexual assault (not between the main pairing)

Sanji was at his limit. He had set this mind to it and was determined to patch things up with Zoro once and for all, but whatever attempt he did to mend things between them, Zoro kept taking a step back. It was as if the swordsman had placed thick walls around him, completely closed off in himself and refused to even acknowledge Sanji’s existence.

It was like Zoro was trying to…forget about Sanji, or better yet, _move on_ from him. And Sanji was about to remind him just how annoying he could be.

He could admit that this whole ordeal was partly his fault for running away and refusing to face it like a man, but Zoro was taking it just too god damn far and Sanji was tired of it.

So, on the third day, Sanji stormed into the crow’s nest without a care in the world.

“What’s up, fuck face?” He greeted in a cheerful tone.

He studied Zoro, but the man didn’t even flinch, nor pay him any attention and continued to swing his weights. Sanji’s lips twitched and grabbed a cigarette from his shirt pocket, placed it between his lips and lit it up. He took in the first lungful of smoke and slowly blew it towards Zoro’s direction, grinning when he noticed the man frowning.

“Y’know, lately I’ve been wondering; ‘there’s something missing, something just doesn’t feel right’,” he started leisurely pacing up and down, gesturing with his hands, “and I said to myself; ‘what could it possibly be? But I already have everything!’” he paused and lifted his hand, pointing towards Zoro.

“And I came to the realization that my most beloved pet dog was gone!” he exclaimed in an exaggerated tone, barely able to contain a wide, shit-eating grin from forming on his face as Zoro slightly faltered in his swings.

“It’s such a shame, really. Since the day I got injured, it had been such a great addition to the crew— it basically did anything I said! So obedient and loyal, just how I like them.” He started pacing again, cigarette dangling between his fingers.

“Personally, I’m more of a cat person, but I can finally see the appeal in dogs. It keeled over at my command and all I had to do was feed it some poorly made lunch and a one Beli worth of alcohol!” he chuckled and brought the cigarette between his lips, taking in a drag.

Sanji breathed it out and shrugged both of his shoulders, “Although I had to let it go, as I _hate_ weaklings, you know? While it was quite nice the way we played house, it couldn’t even pack a punch,” he paused and side-glanced at Zoro, “Even I could do more damage, and I had never even used my hands in a fight!”

He jumped to the side to avoid the huge weight that was tossed towards him, but before he could even land, he caught a glimpse of something sharp and immediately lifted his foot, the heel of his shoe connecting with a sword.

“Oh? Seems like our little pet still has some fight in him left, after all.” A chill ran down his spine as he locked eyes with Zoro’s animalistic and furious gaze. A wide, feral grin split Sanji’s face in two, excitement glistening in his eyes.

“Try to keep me amused for a while, will you? I haven’t had a decent fight in quite a while and I’d like to stretch my legs a bit,” he said, inspecting his nails in a nonchalant way.

Suddenly, another sword appeared from his left. Sanji kicked away, doing a backflip in the air and landing to the other side of the crow’s nest. He pushed off again and shot a roundhouse kick, which Zoro easily avoided and swung both swords diagonally down from the right.

Sanji side-stepped out of Zoro’s vicinity and fainted a step to the right. Then, with lightning speed shot to the other side and struck a kick at Zoro’s ribs, sending him crashing through the crow’s nest glasses. Sanji watched from above, panting as Zoro crushed down, dust covering him.

Suddenly, Sanji felt a slice of wind and just before the swing connected, he jumped away. He landed down onto the main deck, and quickly glanced at his shoulder, asserting the damage. Thankfully, it was only a small scratch.

“Are you not yet satisfied?”

He raised his head, eyes narrowing as Zoro stood there, almost unscathed from the fall.

“You must be taking me for a fool,” Sanji raised his chin, staring down at Zoro, “I won’t be satisfied until you draw _all_ of your swords and fight me like a damn man!” Sanji shot forward, leaping in the air, throwing a barrack of kicks at Zoro.

Zoro snarled as he deflected all of the incoming attacks. “What do you want, Sanji? What more do you fucking want?” Zoro sighed in defeat, “I thought that leaving you alone was what you wanted, wasn’t it? After all, you had that… _repulsed_ look in your eyes every time I tried to approach the subject of the full moon, and I got tired of trying.”

Sanji’s nerves hackled at the sight of Zoro’s downcast, pathetic gaze and saw red. “Tired? You got fucking tired? Oh, what a pity, little marimo got tired of trying— well, whoever told you that this was _easy_ , they have birds for brains! And it seems like you fall under that category too!”

His hands clenched into fists, nails digging painfully into his palms.

_Wasn’t I good enough?_

“I thought I knew you, I thought that the ‘Demon of the East’ would _fight_ for the things he wants— guess I was wrong, though. You aren’t the Zoro I know. The Zoro I know would _never_ give up so easily. You,” he emphasized, “are a _coward_.”

_Would you really give up so easily on me?_

Zoro’s eyes sparkled with fury, yet also a glint of confusion flashed in his eyes as he studied Sanji.

“What are you saying?” Zoro inquired, voice low and dangerous.

What the fuck _is_ he saying? Sanji only wanted to throw insults at Zoro and keep annoying him in hopes of finally getting a rise out of him and stop ignoring Sanji. He had managed that, until he…steered off the point.

Sanji paused, contemplating everything he had said while in his angered state. He felt heat creep up his face, blood pounding loud against his ears as his accusations rang through his mind.

What the fuck was he thinking? What was— what was even all that act?! What was he trying to possibly achieve?

From the looks of it, Zoro believed that Sanji was repulsed by what had happened during the full moon, which he had no recollection about, but Zoro assumed that for Sanji to have reacted that way, something terrible must have happened.

Although, the thing was, Sanji was never once disgusted or repulsed by any of it. At first, he thought that his reaction would be exactly that; disgust. Sanji had thought that the idea of Zoro harboring feelings for him would be something atrocious. It _should_ have been. And yet.

And yet.

Sanji…hadn’t known what to feel. Flattered, perhaps? Flustered? Embarrassed? He had no clue; it was everything _but_ disgust, and Sanji had found himself at a dead end. Why hadn’t he approached Zoro, come clean, and rejected him? Why hadn’t he just set things straight the moment he learned about it?

What was he waiting for?

And now, this. He had tried to encourage Zoro to actively continue and…pursue him? It’s as if Sanji _wanted_ Zoro to pursue him, to confess to him, which was absolutely _absurd_ and _utter bullshit_.

Why would Sanji ever want Zoro to confess to him? He had to scoff at the ridiculous thought.

“Cook?”

Sanji blinked, snapping back to reality and lifted his head. His eyes went round as he noticed that Zoro had sheathed his swords back in their scabbard, and was currently a few feet away from him, staring at him with wide, concerned eyes. His features were pinched, a hand hesitantly reaching out towards him, hovering close, but not daring to touch Sanji, respecting his personal boundaries.

At that moment, everything went quiet except the sound of his pounding heart in his chest. As he stared blankly into Zoro’s eyes, he thought—

_Ah, it all makes sense now. It’s because I like him, too._

“Shit-cook, are you alive? You’ve been standing here petrified for quite a while now and—”

Sanji raised his foot and kicked Zoro with all of his strength, sending him crashing against the wall on the main deck. Then, he turned around and sprinted as fast as his legs could take him, away from the Sunny and away from Zoro.

He bit the inner of his cheek hard, tasting copper in his mouth, not once slowing down or turning to look back, not wanting to know if Zoro had followed him. His heart thumped heavily in his chest, eyes stinging. Sanji ran and ran until his legs started to throb and go numb from exhaustion.

Eventually, he was forced to come to a pause as his legs couldn’t carry him anymore and collapsed against a wall, panting heavily.

There was no way, absolutely _no way_. Sanji refused to believe it. He was a lady’s man, he _loved_ the ladies, he was a charmer and a gentleman. What Sanji preferred were slender and delicate women, soft-spoken, gentle and kind, the polar opposite of that green, good-for-nothing, muscled-brain moron!

He was probably confusing his feelings and letting Zoro’s recent change of behavior get to him.

Besides, him and Zoro had no chemistry, no connection, there was _nothing_ between them, nothing more than the necessary nakama association, as they were both part of the same crew. For fuck’s sake, they hated each other’s guts! They could hardly get along without trying to kill each other.

Well, that was up until a few weeks ago, when Sanji had been severely injured, and ever since they hadn’t…actually _fought_ , now that he thinks about it. They went as far as even doing chores together and many times sat together in silence, enjoying each other’s prese—

Sanji slapped his cheeks with his hands.

They _tolerated_ each other, but that was _it_. Besides, it was just…wrong. Him and Zoro, them being together was not normal. Not that Sanji had anything with gay men, but he just wasn’t one of them. He preferred ladies, and was as straight as they come.

_Would you be willing to sacrifice your life for a stranger? Give up your dream?_ His mind whispered at him, doubts coming to haunt him.

Zoro wasn’t exactly a stranger, per se, he was more of an acquaintance, someone he wouldn’t choose to hang out with on his own, but under these circumstances, Sanji was forced to compromise.

Sanji pushed off the wall and threaded his fingers through his hair, swiping it back. He let out a low chuckle, then another, and soon, his chuckles turned into hysterical laughter, not even paying attention to the weirded out looks he got by the bystanders.

As if that could ever happen— just how out of it was he to believe such bullshit? He probably should head back and apologize for lashing out and kicking Zoro so roughly. If that idiot was still conscious, but Sanji wouldn’t put it past him, Zoro is pretty thick headed.

As Sanji glanced around for the first time, taking in the busy streets of the town, he realized that he had no idea where he was. He had been running for so long and he was still inside the town? This must be a pretty huge island, then. An excited smile twitched on his lips as he thought about all the different kinds of fish and food ingredients that he could find on the market here.

He managed to take one step forward before he came to a halt again, as he remembered that Nami hadn’t given him any allowance, as he was supposed to be on guard watch along with Zoro for the week.

Sanji blew out his cheeks and grabbed a cigarette from his pocket, “What a shame.”

Then, a sweet smell invaded his nostrils, making his mouth water. Sanji tapped the front of his shoe against the ground, lit his cigarette with his lighter and took in a long drag.

“Well, I guess taking a look wouldn’t hurt!” he exclaimed and started strolling along the town’s busy streets.

Sanji did, in fact, find a few rare species of fish that he had never seen again and only read in books. Unfortunately, as he didn’t have any Beli on him, he couldn’t buy any and with a heavy heart to leave the fish behind. Sanji was hoping that perhaps he would come across at least one member from the crew, but he had no such luck.

Either way, even as he left that particular stand and moved onto the other, he kept an open eye for any familiar face.

“Excuse me, sir?”

Sanji turned around, a wide, dopey smile spreading on his face as he saw the cute staff of the shop that was approaching him.

“What shall I assist you with, mademoiselle?” he dropped onto one knee, left hand on his chest and his right outstretched towards her.

“Um, I just wanted to inform you that we are about to close, so if you could kindly please leave, sir, that would be great.” The girl answered, a sheepish smile on her face.

Sanji blinked once, twice, and did a double take. “Excuse me for being so rude, but isn’t it still too early to be closing, my flower?”

The girl tilted her head, giving him a confused look. “Sir, it’s already half past eight in the evening— not only our shop, but the town’s market is about to close down for the day.” She informed him.

Sanji gaped at her for a few seconds, and then bursted out; “I have been here for four hours?!” the girl flinched at his outburst and he immediately started apologizing profusely. Then, he bowed deeply, “Thank you so much for notifying me, my dear, I would be a lost cause without you!” Then, he turned around and headed for the shop’s exit door.

Suddenly, he paused and let out a heavy sigh. He turned around once again, a shy smile on his face, “I apologize for bothering you once again, dear, but you wouldn’t happen to know the way towards the shore, would you?”

Once the girl had explained to him the way to the shore, he thanked her and walked out of the shop. As he made his way through the streets, following the path he was advised to take, he admired the construction of the buildings. Sanji didn’t know a lot about history, certainly not like Robin, but these buildings emitted an ancient aura, with pillars supporting the roof and small statues carved at the top.

Sanji could see in the distance where the town ended and a mass of green sprouted, a huge forest surrounding the town, separating it from the shore and picked up pace.

Suddenly, while he was lost in thought, he was grabbed from behind and roughly wrenched back. Disoriented, he found himself slammed against an alley wall, the impact leaving him dazed.

“What is a pretty boy like you doing all the way out here alone, hm?” the gruff voice behind him said.

As Sanji was about to lash out and kick this fucker’s skull in, he felt something press up behind him, rubbing against his ass and he went rigid. The man behind him breathed down his neck, chuckling as he snapped out of the shock and started struggling.

“Aw, you wanna leave so soon? We haven’t even started yet, pretty,” the man smirked against his nape and Sanji shivered as he felt sharp canines against his skin.

“And what is a loose mutt like you doing out here? Got lost from your owner?” Sanji struggled even more, yet the inhumane grip on him was not budging an inch, “More likely he threw you out, I wouldn’t be much surprised— who would want a dumbfuck like you for a pet?”

His triumph was short-lived as the man behind him let out an animalistic growl and hit Sanji against the head. His vision went white for a few seconds, and when he came back to it, the only thing he heard was rustling of clothes dropping on the ground before white hot fear exploded in his chest.

“I think this little bitch needs a lesson, don’t you think so, too? Gotta teach you some manners— teach you who’s the superior here, _human_.” The man hissed and slid his tongue up Sanji’s neck, “Gonna mark you up, scent you up till all you reek is going to be _me_.”

Sanji started panicking as the man slithered his hand in front of Sanji’s pants, working on the belt. Sanji managed to free his right arm and elbowed the man in his side. With the momentum, he kicked off the wall and slammed the man against the one behind him.

All he took was three steps before a hand gripped his hair and roughly threw him on the ground. On the next second, the man had him pinned down face first one the ground, efficiently locking Sanji’s legs with his weight, hands captured behind his back.

“Get the fuck off me, you piece of shit! I’ll fucking kill you!” he screamed and frantically struggled against the tight hold.

“Yeah, squirm like that more,” the man breathed against his neck, “gets me so fuckin’ excited.”

Sanji’s breaths quickened, gasping for air as he was being squashed against the cement ground. His limbs became uncoordinated, flailing around and trying to do anything that would get this monster off him. He choked back a sob as once again he felt a hand start undoing his pants, blood pounding loud against his ears.

He was about to get— to get _raped_.

“No, stop! Get off me! Stop it!” he pleaded repeatedly, yet the man only laughed with his misery and proceeded with his assault.

Why couldn’t he fight back? Why had he become so weak all of a sudden? If he could get one kick in, he could escape, yet his body refused to listen.

_Help_ , he cried out, _someone._

_Zoro—_

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

Sanji’s head shot up towards the unfamiliar voice, his heart soaring in his chest when he noticed a silhouette of a man standing at the end of the alley. This disturbance caused the man above him to falter, as he cursed, and Sanji took advantage of the moment to get his one leg untangled and kicked in the center of the man’s chest, sending him crashing back into the wall.

Sanji stood up on wobbly feet and sprinted as fast as he could, passing by the unknown man that stood at the end of the alley, and headed for the woods. His mind had become blank, numb from the terror as he fled, returning back to Sunny the only thing that obsessively ran through his mind.

After a while, as Sanji was nearing the end of the forest, in the distance he could finally make out the shape of the Sunny. He picked up the pace and soon, he found himself again on the familiar grass on the main deck.

He glanced down at his hands and noticed that they were still trembling. He clenched them into fists and let out a shaky breath. Sanji made it his personal mission to go back and torture that fucking waste of oxygen that tried to assault him as soon as he got his shit together.

Either way, he had a whole fucking week to make that man’s life a living hell before he could kill him.

“Look who decided to finally show up.”

Sanji went rigid, chewing the inside of his cheek as he heard footsteps nearing him.

_Fuck, I had forgotten about him_ , he thought as Zoro continued, his tone resentful; “Seriously, what’s your fucking problem, cook? I try to be a decent human being and at least attempt at having a civilized conversation, yet you seem disgusted with even the thought of being close to me. I back off and leave you alone; you’re _still_ not fucking satisfied. And then you pick up a fight with me out of nowhere when all I was doing was minding my own business!”

Zoro made a frustrated sound, “Just— tell me! Tell me what the fuck you want me to do. _Talk_ to me.”

Sanji glared down at his feet, refusing to turn around and face Zoro, because what…just what the fuck would he tell him?

That he hated Zoro? Couldn’t stand being near him? That Sanji felt like his heart would give up on him every time Zoro was kind to him? Every time Zoro was gentle and considerate? That Sanji half of the time wanted to throw Zoro overboard to finally find some peace, and half of the time wanted to be wrapped in his warm embrace?

Sanji’s feelings were jumbled, a canvas decorated with angry strokes with masses of colors. Although, despite how much he tried to deny and ignore it, on that canvas, bright crimson was slowly taking over, conquering.

It was hatred. Hatred towards Zoro, towards the way Zoro made him feel, the way he stumbled and stuttered, doubted everything he knew, what made _him_.

Hatred that Zoro started to make him fall, and he could do nothing to stop it.

“You could at least pretend to tolerate my presence for a few minutes— or is that too difficult for you?”

Sanji remained silent, trying to breathe through the lump that had formed in his throat, and Zoro huffed.

“Fucking look at me at least—” Sanji felt a warm hand land on his shoulder and flinched. Zoro paused and stepped closer to Sanji, only a few inches separating their bodies.

“You…” Zoro started, his whole demeanor suddenly turned dark and vicious, “Whose scent is this smeared all over you?”

Sanji’s blood rushed to his head, scratching obsessively at his scalp, just wishing for everything to _stop_. Then, he was wrenched around, a strong grip holding both of his hands in the air in front of him. He glanced up, eyes going round at the sight of Zoro’s pupils blown, a dark void glaring into his very soul, his face contorted into fury.

“You went to fuck out your frustrations? Is that why you were missing for all these hours? Found some cheap whore that you could fuck?” Zoro snarled, alarming bells going off in Sanji’s head as Zoro’s grip tightened on his forearms.

“Fuck, you— you can’t do that! You’re, you belong here, with us, _with me_! If I have to pretend and suffer in silence by myself, I can handle that, but seeing you, knowing that I can’t have you and someone else already has—” Zoro cut himself off, and jerked away from Sanji as if the contact burned him.

Sanji stared at Zoro, mouth opening and closing uselessly, hand hovering in the air out awkwardly.

_No, that’s not it_ , he thought, chest painfully squeezing, _you got it all wrong, you fucking moron._

Sanji took the remaining steps that Zoro had placed between them and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

_How I wish it was all that, then everything could have been so much easier._

“What the fu—”

Sanji yanked him forward and smashed his mouth against Zoro’s, eyes squeezed shut. Sanji felt Zoro stiffen against him, unresponsive, but he remained there, lips locked together.

It was probably one of the worst and awkward kisses Sanji had ever had. There were no ‘sparks’ or ‘fireworks’ as he had heard other people describing them as, and the fact that Zoro was as stiff as a cucumber probably didn’t help much.

Sanji didn’t feel any spark, yet it almost felt…normal. As if this ordinary occurrence, something familiar and so _right_. He slowly pulled back and then placed his forehead against Zoro’s shoulder, hands dangling limply on either side.

“Sanji, what—”

“Shut up for a moment,” he interrupted Zoro, “Just— just for a bit, stay like this.”

For once, Zoro actually listened to his request and remained silent, only the sound of his breathing able to be heard. After a while, Sanji felt hesitant arms wrap around his back and pull him in close. Sanji let out a shuddering breath as he felt a nose bump softly against the side of his head.

After his trembling had eased down, Sanji slowly pulled away, eyes staring at the distance over Zoro’s shoulder.

“For your information, while I _was_ frustrated, I didn’t actually spend my time at a brothel, but I got sidetracked by the local market and didn’t notice when time had passed by. On my way back, I was…” Sanji paused, swallowing thickly, “I was _attacked_ , hence the…unfamiliar scent all over me.” He explained, and let out a heavy sigh.

He grabbed a cigarette and flicked his lighter open. He placed the lit cigarette between his lips, jammed his hands into his pockets and started heading towards the galley. “Now that everything’s cleared up, I’m going to, uh, make dinner. You must be starving, as I left you alone all day long—”

“Sanji.”

He came to a halt, biting down on his lower lip. He knew what was about to come, that Zoro wanted confrontation, but Sanji would probably make everything worse, as he didn’t even know what he wanted at his point.

“Care to explain what is going on with you? First you push me away and avoid me, then you go back to picking up fights and insulting me and now you…kiss me? This better not be some fucking joke, because I’m done getting toyed by y—"

Sanji turned around, throwing his hands in the air, “I don’t fucking know what’s going on with me, alright?! For a while now, everything has been so fucked up, and weird and _not normal_ , and I don’t know what to do!” he barked, glaring at Zoro.

“At first you were this indifferent guy that occasionally got on my nerves and I was fine with that, had no problem putting up with your idiotic, ill-mannered, green ass, but then you had to— you just had to ruin it all, didn’t you?”

Zoro crossed his arms over his chest, furrowing his eyebrows. “The fuck are you talking about, shit-cook, I didn’t do anything—”

“Yes! Yes, you fucking did!” Sanji screamed, “If it wasn’t for your stupid werewolf ass, I wouldn’t have to go through this! Now, everything would be normal and I would still be fawning over the beautiful women of this island and showering them with my endless love, cause that’s what they deserve! Yet I’m stuck thinking about you all of the time and I _hate_ it, hate the way you make me feel, and it’s wrong, but I can’t control it, and it’s all your fucking fault!”

Sanji panted heavily, his chest rising and falling with each breath, hands clenched tightly at his sides. Zoro gaped at him, and Sanji felt his face heat up when he saw something akin to hope flash through Zoro’s eyes. He turned to the side and started puffing on his cigarette like a maniac.

He just had to go and open his huge fucking mouth and blurt everything. Now it was all out in the open and there was no way that Zoro hadn’t understood what he was implying.

What did _he_ want out of this, anyway? Zoro and Sanji didn’t treat each other very kindly, but he wasn’t that much of a dick to lead Zoro on and give him hopes for something that Sanji might never want.

Did he, though? Sanji paused and imagined himself with Zoro, _being_ together, spending time with each other, kissing and holding onto Zoro, giving himself up completely—

Sanji coughed violently and thumped on his chest. His hand trembled as he placed his cigarette back between his lips.

He wasn’t exactly repulsed by the idea of them being together, as much as he would have initially thought he would be. So, perhaps, just maybe, they could…

“Cook, oi, cook— _Sanji_.”

Sanji snapped his head up, locking eyes with him. Zoro bored his eyes into Sanji with a determined glint into his eyes, expression hardened.

“Look, I won’t push you into anything, and I won’t ask of you for anything, and if you don’t want to talk about this ever again, I…will handle it, but I just wanted to let you know that I, uh, I…” Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, breaking eye contact as he nervously glanced around, his cheeks dusted with a pink hue.

“I’m open to anything you’d like to do, and if it’s time you need, I can give you as much time as you want. So, um, yeah…just. Consider it.” Zoro mumbled, anxiously stealing glances towards him.

Sanji’s eyes went round as he gawked at Zoro, not ever imagining that he would actually think of the swordsman as _cute_ , of all things.

_Might as well just fucking go with it._

A grin twitched on his lips as he propped his right elbow on his left hand and grabbed his cigarette between his two fingers, jutting out his hip, “Isn’t this the part where you confess your undying love for me? Why do I get such a lame confession? I doubt _that_ is even considered a confession,” he sighed dramatically, shaking his head.

“Like hell I would do that, dumbass!” Zoro yelled, his entire face turned crimson.

“Well, I feel very underappreciated! This is not how you approach someone you want to have a relationship with!” he argued.

Zoro unsheathed Shusui, “I’ll make you feel appreciated with the edge of my sword all you want!”

Sanji pinched the bridge of his nose, tapping his foot onto the deck restlessly and threw the small stub of the cigarette abroad, “Look here, idiot, I know the only language you speak of is caveman language, but if you want this to work, you have to be willing to compromise, too.”

Zoro narrowed his eyes and pointed his sword at Sanji, “Then I guess it’s only fair that you compromise too, right? If so, you should stop fawning over women like a damn pervert every time you see one.” Zoro concluded, the tip of his lips twitching into a smug smirk.

Horror overtook his features as he placed a hand over his chest. “You dare ask such a thing from me? This is like asking me to fundamentally change who I am! It’s impossible! And besides, I would never even think of doing that to the ladies, they deserve to know what goddess they are!”

Zoro rolled his eyes and sheathed back Shusui in its scabbard. “Oh, of course, the ‘ladies’ would be devastated,” Zoro snorted, “idiot.”

“What did you just call me—” Sanji cut himself off, blowing out a harsh breath. “Great, barely any minutes have passed and we’re already about to tear each other’s throats off.”

Zoro merely shrugged his shoulders, making Sanji’s eye twitch in annoyance.

“If you thought that our dynamic would change, then you’re an idiot.”

Sanji crossed his hands over his chest, forehead creased. “Then what do you suggest we do, oh wise one?”

“We just go with whatever feels natural, I guess.” Zoro suggested and then yawned. “Anyway, I’m gonna go take a nap, there better be some food when I wake up, I’m starving.”

Zoro walked off and climbed up into the crow’s nest, leaving Sanji alone, confused and most importantly very much _pissed_ on the main deck. He remained there for a few seconds, glaring up spitefully at the crow’s nest, considering going up there just to kick Zoro’s useless, empty head off his shoulders, but decided against it and instead walked towards the galley.

Sanji wondered if Zoro had even understood what had happened just now, or if he understood what the term ‘relationships’ entailed. Probably not, considering it’s _Zoro_. That man probably wouldn’t even have kissed anyone in his life before—

Sanji’s brain short-circuited and cursed as he bumped his hip against the corner of the kitchen counter. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand, a blush dusting his cheeks.

Was that Zoro’s first kiss? No. No, that couldn’t be true, there was _no way_ that Zoro had never kissed anyone up till now. He was nineteen years old, for fuck’s sake, it was just impossible!

But then again, it _was_ Zoro. Sanji had never seen him show any interest in either gender during all the time they’ve been sailing together.

Sanji scoffed, gesturing dismissively with his hand, “There’s no way.”

Then, he got to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this marks the official start of their relationship- from here on out, it's all going to be filled with zosan moments y'all been waiting for ;)


	6. six

Four days had passed and nothing had fucking changed.

Sanji would normally wake up in the morning, make breakfast, wake Zoro up and eat breakfast together. Then, Zoro would fuck off to the crow’s nest and stay there until he decided that he was hungry again (which was highly inconvenient for Sanji, as the fucker strolled through the galley whenever he fucking pleased), bugged Sanji until he relented and cooked him lunch. Then, Zoro would take his afternoon nap whilst Sanji shuffled through one of his cook books, until night arrived, in which Zoro would burst in again and demand for booze this time, along with snacks.

And this has been going on for four fucking days! Sure, Sanji didn’t expect much to happen from the very beginning, but this was just ridiculous! It’s not as if Sanji was _hoping_ for something more than usual to happen, but he was just baffled with Zoro’s odd behavior. Or normal, in this case.

Wasn’t Zoro the one that pursued Sanji? The one that initially had feelings for him and wanted something more? And now that he could, Zoro decided not to do anything? They were going to be alone for two weeks in the Sunny, yet Zoro hadn’t made a single move.

It didn’t make any fucking sense!

Suddenly, the door of the galley burst open, causing Sanji to flinch. Zoro strolled in, hand scratching at his chest, mouth open wide in a yawn.

“Cook, booze.”

Sanji wanted to slam his head against the table, but refrained from doing it, as he would damage the book he had borrowed from Robin, and that would be just unacceptable. Perhaps he should kick Zoro’s head through the wall and get rid of him for good.

Why, oh why did he ever think that doing anything with this green-haired neanderthal was a good idea? Sanji was convinced that he must have been delirious four days ago, as it was the only logical explanation.

The man didn’t even talk in full sentences!

“No booze, detox time.” Sanji answered and without even looking at Zoro, continued reading his book.

“There’s not any left? I could have sworn that there were at least two bottles left yesterday—”

Sanji slammed his hands against the dinner table and peered up at Zoro through narrowed eyes. “What I meant was; there’s not any booze left for _you_ specifically, you’ve had more than enough these past four days. Now, out. I’m busy.”

Zoro cocked an eyebrow, arms folded over his chest. “What’s all the whining for? If you just give me my booze, I’ll leave you alone.”

Sanji let out a heavy sigh, propped his elbows on the table and massaged his temple, “That’s the fucking problem, marimo, all you’ve been doing these past four days is leave me alone!” Sanji’s eyes widened as soon as he realized what he had said and felt his face heat up when Zoro smirked.

“Is this how it’s gonna be? Every time I don’t give you attention, you’re gonna get all bitchy on me, needy and desperate?” Zoro teased as he drew near.

“Th— That’s not it, you fucker! I was just confused as you were the one that suggested this in the first place and then you just— do nothing!” Sanji defended, leaning slightly back when Zoro placed his hand on the table and got closer.

Zoro’s smirk widened, sharp canines visible, “Is that so?”

Sanji thickly swallowed and averted his eyes. It wasn’t like he was _needy_ or any other bullshit like that, he was just genuinely curious. It threw him off the loop, as he didn’t know what Zoro wanted to get out of this.

“W-Why didn’t you, though? I mean, you…you could have, yet…” he trailed off and glanced back, unsure of how to word his question.

Zoro regarded him silently for a few seconds and then sighed, standing up straight as he scratched the back of his head. “Well, you still hadn’t given me a clear answer on how you wanted to approach this and wasn’t sure if you were comfortable with doing anything, so I just…waited until you came to me on your own accord.” He explained.

He drew in a sharp breath as he studied Zoro for a couple of seconds and then a small smile twitched on his lips.

“How chivalrous— I would have never suspected this from you, marimo. Color me impressed.”

“Shut up! I just didn’t want to scare you off!”

Sanji scoffed and waved his hand, “Like _you_ could ever scare me off about anything, little marimo.”

Zoro narrowing his eyes was all the warning Sanji got before he was being hauled by the shirt, finding warm lips smacking against his the next second. Sanji made a surprised sound into the kiss and tried to angle his head better, but ended up awkwardly bumping noses with Zoro.

He placed his hands on Zoro’s shoulders and pushed the man slightly back. “What the fuck was that, you idiot? Warn a guy before you do anything!” he snapped.

“You were being annoying and I wanted to shut you up, so I thought I’d finally give you the attention you needed.”

Sanji frowned as Zoro grinned smugly at him.

“One more word and you’ll find yourself kicked across the island.” He warned, and Zoro raised his hands in surrender, that shit-eating grin still evident on his face.

Sanji locked his hands behind Zoro’s neck and slowly pulled him closer until they were inches apart, breathing against each other. Although this was technically the third time they were kissing, his heart was pounding like crazy, hands had started to become sweaty and clammy.

He let his eyes fall shut as he tilted his head to the side and connected their lips. Sanji craned his neck back as Zoro pressed forward, standing hunched above Sanji, hands buried in his blond locks. Sanji hummed low in his throat as warmth spread in his chest, heart fluttering. The kiss was slow and innocent, cautious, as they were both hesitant to move any further.

After a few seconds, Zoro pulled back, breaking the kiss. Sanji opened his eyes and found Zoro staring at him with a soft expression.

“This okay?” Zoro asked in a low tone.

“Yeah,” he whispered back. He tugged Zoro back down, connecting their lips once again. Soon, Sanji’s neck had started to throb from the awkward position and moved towards the couch inside the galley.

After a few more stolen kisses, Zoro was laying on the couch with his head on Sanji’s lap as Sanji continued reading his book. In truth, Sanji was on the same god damn page for ten minutes now and hadn’t been able to read further than the first sentence as his mind was occupied from the previous events.

He and Zoro kissed. They had actually kissed. Touched lips and held onto each other. The real deal. And he was feeling… _good_. More than good, actually.

_What the fuck._

“Having second thoughts?”

Sanji flinched and lifted his head, glancing down. Zoro peered up at him through a single cracked eye, studying him. Sanji marked the page he was on and closed the book, leaving it beside him for the time being.

Was he having second thoughts?

If someone had told him that Sanji would be in this situation one month ago, he would have laughed in their faces and called them insane. Now…he honestly didn’t mind how things had turned out. If it’s all for better or worse, Sanji can’t know yet, but…he believes that it’s worth a shot.

_I apologize, my sweet Nami-swan, Robin-chan, I have failed you!_ He thought regrettably.

“No,” he stated, “no, I don’t think so. I mean, I’m…surprised with my own reaction to,” he gestured with his hand between them, “this whole situation, but I’m not that much of an asshole to lead someone on and then leave them hanging.” He lowered his head, flashing Zoro a grin. “Even to someone like you.”

Zoro stared at him with an unreadable expression for a few seconds. “Good, otherwise I’d have to find an excuse to give to Luffy when the only thing that would remain of you would be your cigarettes.” Then, Zoro turned his body to the right, burying his face against Sanji’s stomach.

“Oi—” in a matter of seconds, Zoro started snoring. Sanji sighed and decided to be the bigger man and relent, not wanting to break the peaceful atmosphere.

Sanji continued reading from where he had left off, and if his hand drifted at one point towards Zoro’s head, no one was there to bear witness.

* * *

From that point, they didn’t take it much further than casual kissing. It was mostly on his part, as Zoro didn’t seem to mind much, but Sanji hated to admit that he was _scared_. It wasn’t like he had never done this before. Sanji had even gone as far as having sex, but that was with a _woman_. He knew how to act around and treat women, how delicate they were, knew how to shower them with his unconditional love and grant them romantic gifts.

Yet with Zoro, every tactic he knew flew out of the window. Not only was Zoro a man through and through; powerful, fierce and masculine, but he was probably the most unromantic creature Sanji had ever encountered. Hence, why Sanji was currently in a dilemma, having no fucking idea on how to approach this whole ordeal.

He had tried the romantic, late-in-the-night, filled-with-candles dinner. Sanji had prepared all of Zoro’s favorite dishes, and had taken his time to decorate the dinner table quite romantically, creating a lovely atmosphere. Sanji had made sure not to be too extravagant, but at the same time, it was intimate enough to consider it a date.

Sanji was pretty confident about it, and thought that maybe, just maybe that ape would finally appreciate his effort.

The first thing that came out of Zoro’s mouth as soon as he walked into the galley was; _‘Why the fuck is it so dark in here? And what’s this awful smell? Do you want to kill me, love-cook?’_

As Sanji had sat there in silence, staring at Zoro with a wide smile on his face. In the next second, Zoro found himself kicked outside the galley door and into the main deck.

So, plan number one hadn’t gone that well. Although, Sanji was anything _but_ a quitter, and tried again. Perhaps, he thought, a more subtle approach would be better, and whilst Zoro was up in the crow’s nest, training, Sanji silently joined him and sat on the bench that spread around the room, a book in his hands.

For a while, it actually worked and Sanji was delighted. Even though they didn’t exchange many words, they were still together, enjoying each other’s presence. Until Zoro dropped his weights, deciding to take a break from training and draped himself all over Sanji.

Under different circumstances, Sanji wouldn’t have much of a problem with this. He wouldn’t have a problem indulging Zoro, but after every training session, Zoro smelled and sweated like an ape. And having _that_ rubbing all over Sanji’s back?

He could say that it didn’t end well for Zoro, as the swordsman found himself once again kicked across the room and Sanji had to take a shower. He still shivered as he remembered all that sweat clinging onto his skin.

In short, things didn’t go as expected, and Sanji found himself at a dead end. Now, two days later, almost a week being alone with Zoro on the Sunny, Sanji was stress baking.

He was currently stirring the mix like a maniac when he heard a faint sound. Sanji ignored it, as he would have probably imagined it, and continued on stirring.

“I never thought I’d see you stress baking.”

Sanji yelped, almost dropping the bowl. He set it on the counter, and as he was about to turn around and give Zoro a piece of his mind, he felt a warm body press up behind him, arms wrapping over his chest.

“Wh— what the fuck do you think you’re doing? I almost dropped the fucking bowl, shitty bastard!” he seethed, hands gripping the wooden counter.

Sanji gasped as he felt a pair of lips lightly brush over his neck, hands pushing against his chest, pulling him closer.

“You’re overthinking again, didn’t I say to do whatever felt natural?” Zoro said in a soft tone, placing a kiss on Sanji’s neck.

He slightly tilted his head to the side, and Zoro immediately got advantage of the invitation, starting to leave trails of kisses and soft bites all over Sanji’s neck. Sanji let out a sigh, eyes fluttering closed. “Don’t you think I fucking tried? I did whatever I would usually do with a woman, but I have never done this before with a…man. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do or how I’m supposed to act.” He disclosed, chewing down on his lower lip.

Then, he felt fingers graze along his chin, gently turning his head to the right. Sanji opened his eyes, heart jumping in his chest as he found Zoro gazing at him with a fond expression.

“Sometimes I look at you and I want to ram all of my swords down your throat in order to make you shut up,” Zoro started, thumbing gently at Sanji’s cheek.

Sanji’s eye twitched, the corner of his lips turning down into a grimace. _Really fucking romantic_ , he thought bitterly as Zoro slightly smirked at Sanji’s expression.

“Then, there are some other moments,” Zoro continued, “in these moments I think about how I want to kiss you until you’re barely breathing. Which one do you think I want to do now, cook?”

Sanji’s breath hitched in his throat, his cheeks heating up as Zoro’s eyes turned dark, craving. Not able to hold himself back anymore, he surged forward and pressed their lips together into a hungry kiss. Sanji reached up with his right arm and raked his fingers through Zoro’s short hair. He clenched his hand into a tight grip, grinning into the kiss as he earned a low moan from the swordsman.

Zoro peered at him with a heated gaze and retaliated by grounding his hips against Sanji’s ass, hands traveling down a path on Sanji’s body until they came to settle upon the blonde’s hips, fingers digging into the fabric, sure to leave marks.

Sanji turned around and pushed Zoro until he had him up against the opposite kitchen counter, hands placed at either side of Zoro’s hips on the wooden counter, trapping him in. He leaned in and stopped inches away from Zoro’s face, lips barely brushing against each other.

Zoro cocked an eyebrow at him, but remained still, waiting for Sanji to make the first move. Sanji placed a feathery kiss on the corner of Zoro’s lips and slowly moved downwards, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses on Zoro’s neck. He gasped against the crook of Zoro’s neck as he grinded his hips against Zoro’s, the friction of his erection against the fabric of his pants sending shivers down his spine.

Large and rough palms clutched at his ass, squeezing tightly. Sanji cursed and Zoro chuckled hotly against his ear, nibbling on his ear lobe. Here, up against Zoro’s muscular and huge chest, everything felt so bizarre. A small part of him still questioned his actions, considered him insane for even thinking about doing this with a man, least of all _Zoro_ , that it was abnormal, yet…

Sanji had never felt so vulnerable and raw in his life, not with anyone else. No one had ever managed to understand Sanji, what motivated him to live on, what kept him from giving up. No one had ever understood his dream. There was no one that Sanji could trust with his life, could trust them in a fight and believe in their skills, confident that they’d have his back.

Not until Zoro.

That green-haired, brainless idiot had managed to get under Sanji’s skin before he had even realized it, and now there was no saving him.

Sanji wrapped his arms behind Zoro’s back, clutching onto him tightly. He buried his face into the crook of Zoro’s neck and squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a shuddering breath.

Perhaps he came off as desperate, didn’t act as himself, but at this point, there was no return. Even if it was _wrong_ and _abnormal_ , being like this, together with Zoro, Sanji finally felt oddly at…peace. Whenever he was with Zoro, his inner demons were lulled into a blissful slumber. Whenever he was with Zoro, the way the swordsman looked at him with respect and treated him as an equal, Sanji felt human.

He let out a watery chuckle, muffled against Zoro’s neck and squeezed his hold around him.

“Cook…? What are you—”

Sanji withdrew his hands and took a step back. He cupped Zoro’s cheeks, eyes gleaming as he beamed. “I fucking _hate_ you,” he proclaimed, “hate you so much, Zoro…you fucking idiotic, algae bastard.”

Zoro’s eyes went round, unresponsive for a few seconds. Then, Zoro surged forward and crashed his lips with Sanji’s into a desperate kiss. Sanji returned the kiss just as enthusiastically, hooking his arms behind Zoro’s shoulders as the swordsman rested his hands upon Sanji’s waist.

After a few seconds, they broke apart and breathed heavily against each other, gazing into each other’s eyes, their foreheads touching. For a while, they remained there, holding onto each other in silence as they tried to get their breathing under control.

“Sanji, I—”

“Oi! Sanji! Zoro!”

Sanji wrenched himself away from Zoro, his back hitting against the kitchen counter. Just then, the galley door opened, revealing Usopp in the doorway.

“Anybody wanna explain what the dents on the main deck are? And what happened to the crow’s nest?! Were you two fighting again?” Usopp accused, hands placed on his hips, glancing at them back and forth.

Sanji wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and turned towards Usopp, “Seriously, Usopp, you all left me and marimo alone— what do you think would have happened?” Sanji leaned his weight against the counter behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s a wonder that we didn’t wreck the whole Sunny.”

Just as Usopp blew out an exaggerated sigh, Franky appeared in the doorway, a disapproving frown distorting his features. “This was _so_ not cool, bros, now me and Usopp-bro have to fix up everything again!” Franky complained. “Well, at least we have one more week left until we set sail, but I cannot allow any more damage to happen.”

“So, what, you’re throwing us out of the Sunny? The witch won’t be pleased, and I’m not in the mood to be on the receiving end of her bitching.” Zoro griped.

Franky gestured dismissively at him, “I will deal with the little girlie as long as you two get off my ship for as long as you can! Preferably for the next week.”

“Fine then, I guess.”

And that’s how Sanji found himself kicked out of the Sunny with Zoro, both staring at the big mass of green that spread all around them. Sanji reached for a cigarette from his breast pocket, but the pack was empty. Then, he patted his other pockets and let out a heavy sigh, tilting his head back.

“Fan-fucking-tastic, I’m out of smokes and we have no fucking money on us! Fucking peachy!” he groused, spitefully kicking a small rock with his shoe.

“Technically, it’s _your_ fault we’re in this situation.” Zoro mumbled.

Sanji whipped his head towards Zoro, eyes narrowed, “The fuck do you mean? How is this any of my fault, huh?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you started to fucking insult me out of nowhere and wouldn’t leave me alone to train! You were literally picking a fight with me.” Zoro pointed out.

“That— that was because you were ignoring me and it was pissing me off!” Sanji argued, hands clenched into fists at either side.

“I thought _you_ were the one that wanted this, weren’t you?”

Sanji opened his mouth, yet there were no words to retaliate and defend himself as, for the most part, Zoro was right.

_Fuck, I hate it when he’s right._

The corner of Zoro’s mouth widened into a smug smirk, “Thought so. Little cook was just ashamed and embarrassed that he missed me and didn’t want to admit it, ain’t that right?”

Sanji’s face flushed and gritted his teeth, “Shut up!” he exploded and then turned around, stomping away towards the thick forest.

He continued on walking further into the forest, all the while grumbling to himself and cursing that useless swordsman. Seriously, who the fuck did he think he was? It seemed like Sanji needed to get him off his high horse and teach him a lesson. Just because they agreed to be in a… _relationship_ , did not mean he could get away with whatever he wanted.

Suddenly, Sanji came to a stop and glanced around him. He nervously chuckled as he didn’t recognize the place he was in. Then, realization dawned on his face and his features contorted into worry.

_Now that directionally challenged bastard will get lost without me and we’ll never be able to find him!_

He breathed in deeply, and slowly breathed out. There was no need to panic, he would just go back from the way he got here. Sanji knew that he had walked in a straight line, so he was confident enough in finding his way back. The real question was if he would find Zoro back there, or if that idiot would be already gone. Probably the latter.

As Sanji was about to turn, his whole body froze up. Something small was crawling on his back, as Sanji could feel it climbing up. He swallowed thickly, heart pounding in his ears as he slowly turned his head over his shoulder.

A black spider was just beneath his shoulder blade, its dark, soulless eyes staring right at Sanji. His lower lip trembled, letting out a pathetic whimper as the spider kept advancing further up. Then, he let out a gut-wrenching scream and sprinted as fast as he could away from there. While in his panicked state, he didn’t even notice which way he ran off to, and only got further into the woods.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eyes he glimpsed a hue of green and three swords, and pivoted towards it at full speed. Sanji crashed against Zoro and tightly wrapped his arms tightly over his shoulders, burying his face against his shoulder, trembling.

“Oi, cook! What the fuck are you doing—"

“T-There was— on my b-back…” Sanji sniffed, holding onto Zoro even tighter.

Sanji was met with silence, and focused on Zoro’s calm breathing. Then, strong, muscular arms were slowly wrapped around his back, holding him securely against him.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” Zoro reassured in a soft voice.

After Sanji had finally calmed down, he gently pushed away from Zoro and glanced away, chewing on his inner cheek. Had he really just cowered in fear like a little girl and desperately clutched onto Zoro just because of a _spider_?

Well, in his defense, spiders and all insects, were fucking disgusting!

“Cook…? Are you okay? What happened back there?”

“Nothing!” he blurted, shoulders stiff, “Nothing at all! I was just— just caught off guard. Yeah. Anyways, let’s go, we have some hunting to do!” he turned and started walking towards a random direction.

When he turned around after a few seconds, he found Zoro taking a turn at the complete opposite way Sanji was going. He groaned and headed back, grabbing Zoro by the hand. “Will you stop getting lost every fucking second? I will not pass the next week with babysitting you!”

“I didn’t get lost, all the trees look the fucking same!” Zoro protested, yet did nothing to move his hand away from Sanji’s grasp.

Sanji rolled his eyes and continued on, guiding Zoro by the hand. “Anyway, as we don’t have any money, we should probably go hunt,” he suggested and Zoro merely grunted as a reply and allowed himself to get guided by Sanji.

He slightly tightened his grip on Zoro’s hand as they took a turn, as he didn’t trust Zoro to stay on the right path with him even if Sanji held him by the hand. It wasn’t that he _wanted_ to be holding onto Zoro’s hand as if they were some _newlywed couple_ (he blanched at the thought), but under these circumstances, it was necessary.

Plus, they were completely alone in these thick woods, so the last thing Sanji needed was for Zoro to get lost. They would never be able to find him again!

His brain backtracked on that thought, realization gradually dawning on his face. Him and Zoro. Completely alone in this vast greenery, probably no other sign of human life near for _miles_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live for soft and domestic zosan <3


	7. seven

Suddenly, he became aware of every little thing. Of Zoro’s warm and calloused hand engulfing his own, his palm tingling and burning at the touch, of his strong presence, walking one step behind him. Sanji placed a hand over his chest as his heart started pounding, blood rushing to his ears.

Of course he knew that a relationship also entailed sexual acts, but Sanji had never once considered it up until now. He knew that he wanted to go that far, but was he ready for it? Did Zoro even crave it? For all the time that they sailed together, Sanji had never seen the swordsman show any kind of interest or sexual attraction towards either gender. So, what made Sanji so different from all the others?

And Sanji had never even kissed a man up until a week ago, how would he go immediately to— to _sex_? How did men even have sex with each other? Well, he generally knew that men fucked each other in the… _anus_ , but Sanji could never picture Zoro as the guy to just open his legs and take it. He doubted the man would even be open to the idea, so that left Sanji as the one to…be on the receiving end.

_Sanji imagined himself spread out beneath Zoro, nails digging painfully onto the swordsman’s muscular back, lewd moans escaping his lips as the man above him filled him up to the brim, pounding into him with vigor—_

“—listening? Oi, shit-cook!”

Sanji blinked, realizing that he was panting quite heavily, a drop of sweat rolling down his forehead.

“Wh— what?” he stuttered, internally cursing as his voice came out high pitched.

“I _said_ , there’s a tree filled with bananas, thought you’d like to get some.” Zoro said and pointed with his thumb up.

Sanji glanced up, blinking in awe at the enormous tree, having to squint his eyes to see the bananas hanging up on the top. “Good job, marimo! Seems like you’re not entirely useless, after all!”

Zoro clicked his tongue, “Yeah, yeah, now let me go, so I can get up there and take some.”

Sanji cocked his head to the side, “what do you mean ‘let you go’? I’m not holding you back.”

Zoro merely raised an eyebrow at him and inclined with his head downwards. Sanji furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and glanced down. He flushed in embarrassment and yanked his hand away from Zoro’s, eyes glued on the ground.

Was he fucking holding onto Zoro’s hand all this time without even realizing it? At least the swordsman didn’t seem like he had noticed Sanji’s previous…dilemma. He knew that werewolves had an amplified sense of smell, but it’s not like Zoro could _smell_ his arousal, right?

_Right?!_

“Hold onto these for me, will you?”

In the next instant, Sanji found himself holding onto three swords as Zoro climbed up the tree.

“Oi, how will you cut down the bananas? Don’t you need your—” suddenly, a few bananas dropped down close to his feet. He glanced up again and saw Zoro literally rip the banana stacks from the tree.

_What did I expect from that brute?_

After a few more minutes, Zoro deemed that they had enough and started his descent. As Zoro finally landed on the ground, Sanji held out his swords, which Zoro took and tied around his hip.

“Thanks for holding onto them. Let’s get going now, we still haven’t found any animals.” Zoro turned around and headed towards a random direction.

Seeing as wherever they went wasn’t that much important, Sanji was about to silently follow Zoro when he caught a real glimpse of his hands. Sanji stomped towards Zoro, wrapped his hand around the swordsman’s wrist and pulled it up.

“You fucking idiot, why didn’t you tell me that the trunk was rough? You didn’t have to injure your hands like this for some god damn bananas, you know!” he chided, moving his hands on the back of Zoro’s hand, eyebrows knitting in concern as he inspected the scratches all over Zoro’s palm.

Zoro rolled his eyes, “This is nothing, curly-brow, calm down, I’m fine.” Zoro yanked his hand away, crossing both arms over his chest, but Sanji managed to catch a glimpse of his other injured hand, too.

“It’s not nothing!” Sanji exploded, throwing his hands in the air, “I get that you don’t appreciate your hands as much as I appreciate mine, but that’s no excuse to carelessly get yourself injured! You always do shit like this, and frankly, I’m tired of it! You just _have_ to play the hero, always putting others before you, and just being a stubborn, righteous son of a bitch! I won’t be able to handle a second Thriller Bark incident again, especially now that I—” Sanji bit down so harshly on his lower lip that he tasted copper in his mouth.

Sanji glared at the ground a few feet away, hands clenched tightly as a tense silence engulfed them.

He really didn’t mean to explode like this, but Zoro wasn’t helping much either. The swordsman was such a stubborn ass when he wanted to be, always thinking how to save the crew by sacrificing himself and never searching for other alternatives. At first, he had tried to cut his own feet off, then he willingly took all of Luffy’s pain back in Thriller Bark at the cost of his own _life_ , and Sanji was— he wouldn’t be able to survive that. Not again, and especially not now. Not now, when he knew what Zoro meant to him.

Suddenly, he felt fingers gently touch his chin, lifting his head up. Before he had any time to react, Zoro swiped his tongue over Sanji’s bottom lip, licking away the blood. Sanji remained stunned, eyes wide as Zoro drew back, but kept his fingers grazing against Sanji’s chin.

“I can’t promise you that I won’t be willing to give up my own life for the rest of the crew if the situation calls for it,” as he was about to open his mouth, Zoro placed a finger vertically on Sanji’s lips and continued, “but what I _can_ promise, is that I’ll try to be more careful from now on, and I won’t result to that decision immediately. Is that alright with you?”

Sanji blew out a sigh, shoulders slumping and silently nodded. Zoro gave a nod of his own, “Good, but you have to promise me the same. While I do it because the crew needs saving, you do it as if you’re… _disposable_. I don’t know what has led you to believe that, but I refuse to be left alone to look after those idiots. Don’t think that you’re going to get off babysitting duty so easily, we’re in this together, shit-cook.”

He took in a sharp breath as Zoro’s fond, yet determined eyes pierced right through him. “Okay,” he agreed, “I promise to be more careful, too.”

“And?” Zoro coaxed.

Sanji wanted to feel irritated, but he couldn’t help the small smile that curved on his mouth. “And I will be more considerate about the worth of my life.”

Zoro gave an approving nod and stepped away, walking towards the pile of bananas. The swordsman picked it all up and started walking, Sanji following silently a few steps behind him.

For about an hour or two, they kept searching for any animals, and thankfully, they had managed to find a pretty large sized rhino, which they hunted down and killed. Although, it was oddly peculiar that there were barely any other animals in sight. They had walked for _miles_ , and this rhino was the first animal they had come across. Sanji concluded that, perhaps, the forest just didn’t have that many animals (this was the Grand Line, _way_ more weirdest things had happened).

Sanji’s biggest problem was that, after having walked for hours through the woods and under the scorching sun, he was sweating like a pig. His shirt clung to his sweat-clad skin and he felt absolutely _disgusting_. If they didn’t find a pond or a lake in the next five minutes, he was going to explode.

“I think I can hear a stream,” Zoro piped in, head cocked to the side, “c’mon, it’s this way.”

Sanji hefted the pile of bananas higher in his arms and started after Zoro. “Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?”

“If you wanna trust you weak, little human ears, go ahead, be my guest, but I believe I have the upper hand this time.”

“It’s not your werewolf senses that I don’t trust. It’s your admirable skill to get lost even in a straight line that I don’t trust, marimo.”

Zoro huffed, mumbling a _‘shut up’_ as he kept walking, dragging the rhino behind him. Surprisingly, after a few minutes, they arrived at a clearing. A small lake with crystal clear water, as a cascade of water kept falling from a medium height precipice to their right.

“Fucking finally.” Sanji dropped the pile of bananas on the grass and jogged up to the edge of the lake. He kneeled down and cupped his hands, placed them under the water and then splashed his face, letting out a relieved sigh at the cold and refreshing feeling.

As he started unbuttoning his suit jacket, wanting to get out of these disgusting clothes and go for a dive, he heard loud thumps of footsteps nearing at an alarming speed from behind him. Before he had any time to turn around, a large shadow flew over him and dived into the lake, sending a large wave of water towards him, soaking him whole.

A green wolf popped up from the surface of the lake, barking at Sanji. That green-haired ass was in his wolf form, but Sanji could still detect the smugness radiating off of him from miles away. He clenched his jaw, his face contorting in anger.

“You gigantic,” he continued unbuttoning his jacket, his movements jerky, “brainless,” he tossed his jacket to the side, “smug, little piece of _shit._ ” he worked on his shirt, taking it off as well. “I should fillet you for this, you damned mutt!” he kicked off his shoes and dived in, only with his pants on.

As Sanji broke out on the surface again, he was smacked in the face by another wave of water that had been coughing. “Will you fucking stop?!” he screamed, eyes blazing as he threw a death glare at the green wolf a few feet away from him. The wolf scoffed and he narrowed his eyes.

_Two can play this game, fucker_ , he thought and immediately propelled towards Zoro, throwing himself with all of his strength against the wolf, successfully forcing his head under the water.

They continued fighting, going back and forth for a while, yet Sanji soon got exhausted, as being in the water made it even harder to move. Therefore, Sanji swam close to the edge of the lake, arms crossed as he placed them on the grass and propped his chin on them, legs swinging back and forth in the water, whilst Zoro, still in his wolf form, kept swimming back and forth.

The sound of the water falling, hitting against the surface of the lake, alongside the occasional chirps of the birds, soothed his nerves, as well as the exhaustion that had seeped in his bones, lulling him into a peaceful slumber.

When Sanji regained consciousness again, he found himself leaning against something warm and sturdy.

“Wha…” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Welcome back to the world of the living, princess.”

Sanji blinked, lifting his head and as he was about to glance around, he was met with a muscled chest. As he slowly became aware of his surroundings, he noticed that he was currently being carried by Zoro. Bridal style. He started squirming around, shoving a hand under Zoro’s chin.

“Oi, stop it, you idiot! I’m trying to get back to the camp— oi!”

Sanji successfully managed to get off Zoro, stepping a few steps away. As he was about to open his mouth, he caught sight of a white hue and glanced down, blood rushing to his face as he realized what he was wearing.

“W-Why the fuck am I wearing your shirt? And why were you carrying me? What the fuck happened, marimo?!” Sanji spluttered, hand fisting on the white fabric of the shirt, pulling it down.

Sanji was not only wearing Zoro’s white shirt, which reached just over the top of his _bare_ thighs, but was not wearing anything underneath!

“What the fuck did you do to me, you perverted swordsman?!”

Zoro let out a heavy sigh, as he reached over with his hand and scratched the back of his head. “Get your head out of the gutter, shit-cook, I didn’t do anything. You fell asleep while you were still in the lake, but all of your clothes were soaked, and I doubt you wanted to catch a cold right now while we’re in the middle of nowhere, so I took off your wet clothes and gave you my shirt. Seeing as you were still asleep, I went ahead and built a campfire, and was currently taking you there.” Zoro clarified, mumbling under his breath _‘what a pain, knew this would happen’_.

All anger suddenly disappeared from Sanji, as he stared dumbly at Zoro. “Oh,” he breathed, “that’s actually…very considerate of you.”

Zoro waved his hand, “Yeah, yeah, whatever, I just didn’t want to hear any more of your bitching. You can walk on the rest way, right?” Zoro’s lips widened into a grin, “Unless you want me to carry you again? You seemed pretty comfortable in my arms.”

“Shut up! I can walk on my own just fine!” he shrieked and bodily shoved against Zoro’s shoulder as he stomped past him.

“Oi, cook.” Zoro called out, and Sanji’s eye twitched as he whipped around. “What?!”

Zoro’s grin widened and thrusted his thumb towards the opposite direction. “The camp is this way.”

Sanji’s whole face turned red and silently started walking to the other direction, fingers twitching as Zoro started laughing.

_I’ll fucking kill him in his sleep, I swear I’ll do it. I’ll strangle the life out of him._

Zoro caught up with him, and Sanji fell a step behind, letting the swordsman guide them. He finally took the time to look around, and noticed that the sun had started setting, its afternoon sun rays shining through the trees. If it was already late in the afternoon, he must have been asleep for at least a few hours.

After a few minutes, they arrived into a clearing, a campfire in the middle, the dead rhino they had hunted a few feet away along with the pile of bananas, and his clothes were all spread out close to the fire.

A chill ran down his spine as a cold breeze blew by and Sanji padded towards the campfire. He folded his legs underneath him as he kneeled down and held his hands out close to the fire.

“Oi, Zoro,” he called out, and the swordsman grunted in reply, footsteps coming closer. Sanji glanced up as Zoro stopped beside him, staring down at him. “Your hands, aren’t they still—”

Zoro held up his hands, showing them to Sanji. His eyes went round as Zoro’s palms were now spotless, not even a tiny scratch in its wake.

“How…?”

“Werewolves have fast regeneration abilities; we heal pretty quickly compared to the average man.” Zoro stated as he propped one hand on the handle of his swords and the other in his haramaki.

Sanji hummed as he turned his eyes back to the fire and hummed. “Must be nice being a werewolf,” He commented.

“Well, it has its disadvantages, too.”

He glanced at Zoro from the corner of his eye, studying the swordsman silently as memories of the full moon flashed in his mind. “Yeah,” he breathed, “I guess it does.”

After a few minutes of silence, Sanji pushed himself up to his feet and reached over for his pants. As he patted down the fabric, he found that it was relatively dry, so he put it on. “You must be starving, so I’ll go prepare the rhino we caught. In the meantime, why don’t you eat some bananas like a good boy and wait, yeah?” He ruffled Zoro’s hair as he passed by, grinning as the swordsman growled and knocked his hand away.

Although, as he stopped just before the rhino, he realized that he didn’t have any of his kitchen knives with him. “Uh, Zoro? We have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t have any knives with me, so this will be impossible to cut.” After a few seconds, he heard some rattling and turned around, blinking as Zoro unfastened the swords around his hip and held them out to him.

“You want me to…use your swords?” Sanji asked hesitantly.

Zoro frowned and shifted his weight to one leg, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. “No, I’m giving them to you cause I’m tired of holding them— yes, I’m giving them to you to use them! Do you see anything else you could use?”

“Are— are you sure? These are your swords we’re talking about, I don’t—”

“Sanji,” Zoro interjected, “just take them.”

Sanji reluctantly accepted the swords and walked over to the rhino. He grabbed the red and black sword called Shusui, placed the others on the ground nearby and unsheathed it from its scabbard. He balanced the sword in his hand, lifting the blade vertically in front of him.

_It’s quite heavy_ , he noted, admiring the sharpness of the blade for a few seconds, and then immediately got to work. Sanji fully immersed in his current task, swiftly and efficiently handling the sword, cutting the rhino into small pieces.

When he was finally done, he swung the sword sharply to the right, shaking off any remaining blood that still stained the blade and with a twirl, placed it inside its scabbard. He wiped the sweat on his forehead away with the back of his hand and placed his free hand on his hip, nodding once to himself as he looked at his work.

Then, he picked up the rest of the swords and turned around. Sanji faltered in his steps, almost stumbling when he locked eyes with Zoro’s dark and predatory eyes. He thickly swallowed, suddenly feeling hot, but kept walking towards the campfire where Zoro was currently sitting. Sanji stopped right in front of Zoro and held out his swords, “Thanks for letting me use them, perhaps your shitty swords aren’t _that_ shitty—”

Suddenly, a hand closed around his wrist and yanked him down, another one fisting the hair around the base of his skull as hungry lips pressed against his. Sanji let out a surprised sound, swords dropping from his hand, fumbling and trying to find leverage to steady himself. He allowed himself to be pulled downwards and slackened his mouth, arms locking behind Zoro’s shoulders.

A tongue immediately prodded against his lips and Sanji met it halfway, a low moan escaping his mouth. His hips twitched forward as sharp teeth nibbled on his lower lip, slightly nicking it. A tongue flicked over the graze, and Sanji surged in again, connecting their lips. After a few moments, he pulled back slightly, panting and slowly blinked his eyes open.

“You seem to know how to handle a sword,” Zoro noted breathlessly, “you would have made quite a formidable swordsman.”

Sanji’s breath hitched in his throat, hands unconsciously tightening on Zoro’s back, nails digging into his skin.

_Flashes of the past ran through his mind, of a previous life, a small, weak boy that dreamed big, but the world was too cruel. Yet the boy didn’t give up, and got up again, tiny hands clutching tighter the wooden sword—_

Sanji plastered a fake smile on his face and pushed against Zoro’s face, getting up from his lap. “I thought I’d leave the sword swinging to you, it’s not really my style.” He walked towards the edge of the clearing and picked up a few sticks from the ground. Then, he glanced over his shoulder and smirked.

“It would also be a shame to rob the title of the best swordsman right under your nose, wouldn’t it?”

Immediately, the atmosphere grew tense as Zoro narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes. Sanji brought his hands forward into a defensive gesture, knees slightly bent.

“Down, boy,” Sanji said, grabbed one stick, swinging it in front of him and then tossed it in the woods. “Go, boy, grab it! Go get it!” He only had a few seconds before Zoro sprang forward and tackled him to the ground, but he was too busy cackling to really fight back.

They rustled and rolled around for a while, but Sanji drew the line when Zoro started throwing bananas at him, the strength behind the throws sending them smashing against the trees. Once Sanji had made sure that he had rearranged Zoro’s brain with a couple of kicks, he then grilled them upon the campfire.

When they had finished eating, Sanji’s throat felt as dry as a desert. “Oi, Zoro, I’m going to get some water, you—” a snort interrupted him and he glanced over, his eye twitching in irritation when he saw Zoro sprawled on the ground, mouth wide open, drool falling from the corner of his lips.

Sanji scrunched up his nose, staring down at Zoro in disgust for a few seconds and then turned around, heading towards the direction he remembered the small lake to be. He only had the moonlight to guide him through the dark, and hoped that it would be enough. Thankfully, after a few minutes, he could hear the waterfall in the distance and started advancing towards that direction.

When he reached it, he stood back for a couple of moments, admiring the fireflies glowing in the dark, flying over the water, creating a magical image. Then, Sanji walked forward and kneeled down on the edge, reaching down with his cupped hands. As he was drinking water, he heard a rustle, but didn’t pay it much attention, as must have been some animal.

After a few seconds, he heard the same rustling again, and Sanji became more alert of his surroundings as he remembered a small detail.

There were no animals in this forest.

Sanji sprung up and whipped around, eyes darting through the darkness. His heart started pounding against his chest as he heard the same rustling again, although this time from behind him. He turned around, and went rigid, every muscle in his body tensing up.

There, across the lake, eight blood-shot eyes were staring straight at him.

Sanji let out a blood-curdling scream and made a break for it towards the opposite direction. Everything became fuzzy, as the only thing on his mind was to run as fast as he could, _get out of there, hurry, it’s getting closer._

The thumps behind him started to loom closer and Sanji closed his eyes, heart leaping to his throat as he thought that this was it, it managed to catch up to him, he was going to get killed right here, in the dark, _alone_ —

Suddenly, something landed in front of him, and before Sanji could stop, he collided with it. In his panicked state, he frantically flailed his arms around, trying to get away. A familiar growl made him pause, and he blinked, realizing that his vision had become blurry. He wiped his unshed tears away and let his fingers rake through the soft, green fur.

_Zoro._

Instantly, relief filled his chest and sagged down, all strength leaving legs. “F-Fuck,” he let out a hysterical laugh, “I never thought I’d be so glad to see you, m-marimo.”

The wolf made a low sound in his throat and nudged his nose against the side of Sanji’s head. He lifted his hand and petted the wolf’s forehead, “I’m fine, I’m fine, I just thought I saw a spider about the size of you, but that can’t be right. Must have been my mind playing tricks on me again.”

The wolf snorted and Sanji rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up and get going already.”

After a while, they reached the campfire again and Zoro moved closer to the fire, doing one circle around a spot, deeming it comfortable enough, and laid down. Sanji was about to move to the other side when the wolf huffed and stared directly at him. His mouth curved into a small smile and walked up to the wolf. Sanji sat down and leaned against the wolf’s body.

“G’night, marimo.” He whispered, and after a few seconds, a fluffy tail was laid upon him, covering half of his body.

* * *

“You sure you want to do this right now?” Sanji questioned, hands crossed over his chest.

Zoro fastened his swords on his hip, eyes widening comedically in mocking shock. “Don’t tell me you’re scared, cook. It’s only a friendly sparring match.”

His face hardened, a tense grin spreading on his face as he glared down at Zoro. “Oh, no, no, you’ve got it wrong, marimo-kun. I was just concerned about you, as you’ve been slacking on your training lately and I doubt you’ll pose much of a challenge.”

Zoro narrowed his eyes and slowly unsheathed all of his words, placing Wado between his teeth, and the other two in either hand.

Sanji lifted his shoulders, “I warned you, but don’t start crying afterwards because you lost.”

A dark glint flashed through Zoro’s eyes as the man started walking to the left, “By the end of this sparring session I’ll have you screaming.”

Something awoke in Sanji’s chest, a familiar blazing flame. As they circled each other, poised and ready to strike at any moment, Sanji felt his breathing become heavier, everything slowly fading away into background noise as he kept his eyes locked onto Zoro.

After they had woken up in the morning, they had continued exploring the woods for a few more hours before they had decided to take a break close to another pond with clear water they had found. Sanji had thought that while camping outside on their own had been relatively fun, they would soon need to head back. This day, not even a bird’s chirp could be heard, which meant no available food resource in miles.

Besides that, Sanji was still creeped out from last night’s event at the lake, as those eight, blazing red eyes haunted his mind. The fact that the forest was currently completely silent didn’t help ease his growing anxiety either.

Then, lost in his drowning thoughts as he was, Zoro had suggested they have a matching spar, and after a bit of refusal on Sanji’s part, Zoro had managed to convince him.

All Sanji saw was a blur before blades were right in his face. He jumped back, and before he could even place both of his legs on solid soil, a flash of bright blue energy came hurtling towards him from the left. The long-ranged attack was shot from a low point, aimed for his legs, which allowed Sanji, even with one foot touching the ground, to push off and get enough height to avoid the attack.

Nevertheless, his moment of relief was short-lived, as in the next instant, Zoro appeared inches away from his face. Everything seemed to slow down around him, and Sanji’s eyes went round as he caught a glimpse of a black blade directed towards his face.

Sanji lifted a leg and just in time managed to connect his foot with Zoro’s forearm, succeeding in altering the course of the sword, enough to avoid a lethal blow. The sharp edge of the blade managed to nick his shoulder, a clean cut, and Sanji landed several feet away from Zoro.

He lifted a hand and let his fingers lightly graze his throbbing wound. He glanced down at his bloodied hand, eyebrows knitting together. Even though it was a small cut, the blade had managed to slash quite deep.

_If I hadn’t changed its course, the blade would have sliced straight through my neck._

As Sanji lifted his head, about to yell Zoro’s ear off, the words stuck to his throat. Zoro’s pupils dilated, gaze zeroed in on Sanji, a cloudy curtain covering his eyes. At that moment, Sanji felt like prey, his mind screaming at him to flee, as the beast before him was going to eat him whole.

_Sorry, Zoro_ , he thought, and widened his stance, _seems like I was the one that didn’t take this seriously._

Sanji started working on the buttons of his jacket, not daring to avert his eyes even for a millisecond from Zoro. When he reached the last button, he hesitated for a split second, and then yanked it off, throwing it in front of him.

Sanji took advantage of the cover it provided and kicked off to the side. He rounded on Zoro with a side kick from the left. The swordsman effectively blocked it, but Sanji immediately dropped down, lashing out with a kick directed to Zoro’s chin. The swordsman managed to block it just in time before any fatal damage was done, but Sanji still gained that one second of disorientation and went in for the killing blow.

Sanji shot upwards and clenched his right hand into a fist. With the momentum he had, he directed his punch towards Zoro’s throat. Sanji saw panic flash through Zoro’s eyes, and where once his swords would have parried Sanji’s attack, now the swordsman was wide open.

He barely contained a manic grin from spreading on his face as Sanji instead hooked his hand around Zoro’s nape and dragged the swordsman down, kneeing him with all of his strength against his abdomen. Zoro was sent flying from the blow, crashing against a few trees.

Sanji placed his leg down, chest rising and falling rapidly, sweat rolling down his forehead. He crossed his arms over his chest, chin lifted as he stared at the ruined path which he had sent Zoro flying.

“Not so great now, are we, little marimo? Weren’t you the one who said that was going to, and I quote;” Sanji furrowed his eyebrows, the corner of his lips curved downwards, “’By the end of this sparring session I’ll have you screaming’” he mimicked in a deep voice, and then burst out laughing.

Sanji waited for a response, a rustle, a groan, anything, but nothing came. He waited for a few more seconds, until they turned into minutes, and by this time, he had started getting worried. He rushed towards that direction, and searched around, but didn’t see Zoro anywhere close.

“Just how far did I kick him?"

As he was normally walking through the woods, the next instant he found himself being slammed down against the ground, eyes now blinking at the trees and sky above. Sanji propped his elbows on the ground and, as he was about to lift himself up, a voice tutted at him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope yall enjoyed this chapter! I can easily say that this chap was the most fun to write (beside the smut that will come soon ;)) Also did yall watch the new episode?? The animation was flawless, especially the scene with Sanji vs X Drake!!
> 
> P.S: I adopted a kitten just yesterday. His name is Steve and he's just adorable. (about 8-9 weeks old) Steve says hi :)


	8. eight

Sanji froze as he felt a sharp blade lightly graze the skin on his neck, teasing, as it barely nicked him. He glanced up, breath hitching in his throat. Zoro’s face was inches away from his, dark eyes boring into his own.

He swallowed and opened his mouth to speak, but the motion caused his Adam’s apple to push against the blade, the spot there stinging as a thin droplet of blood sliding down his neck. Sanji had no choice but to remain there, frozen, at Zoro’s mercy, as one hasty move would be lethal.

“I _did_ say that I’d have you screaming, but I don’t know…” Zoro smirked, a playful glint flashing in his eyes, “I like you like this, too. You need to learn how to control that smart mouth of yours, or else it will get you into trouble sooner or later, cook.”

Sanji frowned and made sure that his aggravation was understood, as he glared at Zoro with a hateful glint in his eyes. Yet, the action only flued the swordsman’s amusement more, his smirk widening. After a few seconds, Zoro seemed to take pity on him and started lowering the blade.

Although, before Sanji had the chance to do anything, Zoro attacked his neck, mouth sucking on the wound. He let out a low whimper, his face flushing as he glanced down and saw Zoro licking away a droplet of blood from the corner of his mouth. Sanji groaned and fell backwards, letting his head hit the ground with a ‘thump’. This green-haired bastard was going to be the end of him. Most would think that he was a vampire instead of a werewolf.

Then, he heard some rustling and lowered his gaze, eyes going round as he noticed that Zoro had almost unbuttoned the half of his button-down white shirt.

“Wha— Oi! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he snapped, hand fisting Zoro’s short hair, pulling his head back.

“Your shoulder wound, gotta take care of it, too.” Zoro explained shortly, then pushed forward and out of Sanji’s grip. Zoro pulled down Sanji’s shirt, exposing his wounded shoulder and enclosed his lips around the wound.

After a bit of some more blood-sucking, Zoro deemed that his injuries should be fine for the time being and finally got off of him, leaving Sanji a panting mess sprawled on the ground.

“Guess we should start heading back to the Sunny now, the sun will soon start to set.” Zoro commented as he fastened all three of his swords on his hip.

“You don’t say,” he monotoned as he pushed off the ground, standing up to his feet. Sanji quickly walked back to pick up his discarded jacket, clicking his tongue as he saw the dirt stains on the expensive fabric.

Then, they started making their way back through the woods and towards the shore (hopefully, as Sanji had literally no idea where they were, and was probably going to regret trusting Zoro to guide them back).

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Sanji asked, glancing around as he walked a step behind Zoro.

Zoro let out a heavy sigh, “What will it take to convince you that we’re going the right way?”

“Oh geez, I don’t know,” Sanji quipped, “maybe when you _actually_ stop getting lost all the time?”

“Har har, very funny.” Zoro deadpanned.

As Sanji was about to throw back a witty reply, his foot sank a bit in the ground. He paused and glanced down, eyebrows knitting together. He tried raising his foot, but it seemed like it was stuck. As he placed more strength, all he heard was a crashing sound before he found himself falling. Before his mind could even process the thought, he collided with the ground quite painfully.

“What the fuck…?” he grumbled, coughing a bit as he pushed himself to his feet.

“Oi, curly! Are you alive down there?”

Sanji raised his head, squinting his eyes as he peered up at the tiny hole of light high up above where he had fallen through. “Somehow! Although, it’s really fucking dark down here, I can’t see a thing!” he called out, frowning as he realized that his voice kept echoing.

He lowered his head, staring into complete darkness ahead and placed his hand on the wall to his right. Sanji started walking forward, his hand grazing along the wall as he went. Then, he bent down and blindly searched for a rock. After he successfully found one, he threw it as far as he could and waited. The sound of the rock clattering on the ground came after several seconds, the sound echoing through the tunnel.

“Seems like there’s a cave system down here…” he wondered out loud.

Then, a loud sound crashing was heard from behind him, and fear exploded in his chest, but the familiar growl that followed, with two bright, yellow eyes glowing in the dark soothed him down.

“Fuck, you scared the hell out of me, damn marimo! Warn a guy before you decide to jump down here.” He chastised, hand placed on his chest, heart pounding.

The wolf, with three swords between his teeth, only huffed and started walking forward, further into the cave. “Wait, do you even know where the fuck you’re going? We’ll get lost down here in the dark!” Sanji protested, struggling to see through the darkness.

Two yellow eyes appeared a few feet away, staring straight at him quite impatiently, and Sanji sighed and caught up to Zoro, placing his hand on the wolf’s neck, as he was currently the only one that could guide them through the dark.

Sanji didn’t even notice how much time they had spent it walking and taking turns shrouded in darkness. It’s not as if he was afraid of the dark, but that, in addition with little to no room to move, brought back unwelcome memories that Sanji did not want to have the displeasure of experiencing again.

Eventually, they saw faint light at the end of the tunnel, and once they reached it, they stepped foot into a huge cave. It was probably the main one, as all around it there were other smaller tunnels like the one they had come from that led here. Thankfully, faint rays of light shined through numerous tiny cracks in the ceiling, enough for the human eye to grow accustomed to.

“I wonder if anybody else knows about this…” he said and jumped down from rock to rock, as the main ground of the cave was further down. When he finally landed down, Sanji did a full circle, taking in the entirety of the cave, whistling.

A green blur rushed by him, and Sanji rolled his eyes as the wolf started maniacally sniffing, running up ahead. “Kids,” he sighed, shrugging his shoulders and went after the direction Zoro had run off to, but at his own pace.

Suddenly, he heard a scraping sound and searched around, but nothing was in sight. The sound started getting louder, and as Sanji could still see _nothing_ , worry etched slowly in his gut. He felt an added weight on his right shoulder and glanced over, face scrunching up in disgust at the slimy liquid that landed on his shoulder.

“ _Ew_ , what the fuck is this?!” he cringed, and quickly took off his jacket, holding it in front of him, “This better come off, or this cave is going to meet the sole of my shoe!”

Another drop of the same liquid fell next to him, splashing against the ground next to his feet, and gritted his teeth. “I swear to god, if that was a few more inches to the left—" as Sanji lifted his head, he felt blazing dread seize his body, words stuck in his throat.

Above him, dangling off the ceiling, supported by a white web, was the largest fucking spider Sanji had ever seen.

His lower lip started trembling, grip slackening on his jacket as it dropped down. Normally he would have berated himself for treating his precious jacket so poorly, but currently, the only thing that was running through Sanji’s mind were those huge eight eyes staring right through his soul.

_Do not make a sound. Do not make any hasty move. Walk away slowly. Do not make a sound. Do not make any hasty move. Walk away—_

As Sanji played that mantra in his head like a broken record, about a dozen other spiders slowly inched down from the ceiling, their chelicerae snapping together suggestively. A meek sound escaped his mouth, and before he knew it, he was sprinting at full strength. He didn’t turn back to look and only kept going forward, as the repulsive sound of their appendages crawling on the ground could be heard from behind him, clearly hot on his heels.

As he kept running, a thought struck his head, terror contorting his features. They were far under the surface of earth, without a single known exit. Was he going to die like this? Eaten alive by these huge spiders? He shuddered at the unfortunate image that he envisioned, the impending fear only fueling his strength further as he picked up the pace even more.

After what seemed like hours, Sanji slowly came to a stop, wheezing as he slumped over, hands supported on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He blinked, noticed that his vision was blurry and touched with one hand his cheek, finding it soaked with tears.

“-ook? Oi, cook, snap out of it! _Sanji!_ ”

Sanji flinched, hands coming forward to shield himself from any danger, but instead of fuzzy and disgusting appendages, warm and calloused palms were wrapped gently around his wrists, slowly lowering his hands.

“Z-Zoro…” he stuttered, a dry chuckle bumbling from his throat, “F-Fuck, that was so fucking s-scary…we need to…need to get out of here fast.”

“Are you okay? What happened? I just heard you scream and I came running as fast as I could.” Zoro gave him a quick once-over from head to toe, checking for any sustained injuries.

Sanji quickly wiped his tears away, clearing his throat. “I’m fine. Thankfully, I managed to evade them before they got to me, but we need to leave _now_ , or else they’ll catch up to us!”

Zoro frowned in confusion, “Who’s ‘they’?”

As Sanji was about to reply, he saw movement from behind Zoro and tensed up. Zoro immediately pivoted around, narrowed eyes zeroing on the huge spiders and took a step to the left, standing in front of Sanji, bodily shielding him.

Sanji clutched onto Zoro’s white shirt, anxiously glancing at the huge spiders that crawled threateningly towards them. Zoro pulled his lips back in a snarl, emitting a growl low from his throat, and the spiders briefly stopped advancing, as if hesitating. At first, he thought that Zoro had managed to scare them off, but the more he observed, Sanji realized that they weren’t backing away, as they slowly started surrounding them, but were _preparing_ for something, waiting.

Then, that’s when _it_ appeared. Its ginormous appendages slowly emerged from the shadows, and Sanji came face to face with eight familiar crimson glowing eyes. His eyes went round, mouth dropping open in terror as he took in the sheer size of this spider, probably rivaling Zoro’s wolf form. If Sanji thought the other spiders were huge, this was nothing like he had ever imagined.

Now, the animals’ absence from the forest made absolute sense, as anyone with even slight rationality would immediately flee away from it. And by the other spiders’ behavior, this one seemed to be their leader.

Sanji swallowed through the lump that had formed in his throat, a tremor running down his spine as he realized that _just_ yesterday night, he had stared into this very monster’s eyes across the lake. He had been _so_ close to being swallowed by this beast and Sanji had no idea.

“Z-Zoro, we must leave, we can’t possibly fight this, we are outnumbered,” he fretted, tugging at Zoro’s shirt frantically, looking back and forth at the spiders and him, but Zoro refused to budge an inch, and instead tilted his head to the side.

“Move you damned mutt, otherwise we’re going to die here! Why can’t you just—"

“Gomu Gomu no…”

Sanji’s ears perked up at the faint, but familiar voice.

_Luffy._

“ _Pistol!_ ”

Something crashed through the wall to their right, and Sanji lifted his arms in front of him, as debris and dust were sent flying all around, the ground shaking at the impact.

“Oh! Zoro! Sanji! You were here, too? It’s been a while!”

Sanji coughed and lowered his arms. Where the monster spider with its minions once stood, now Luffy was perched upon a fallen wall, waving down at them with a huge grin on his face.

A relieved smile twitched on his lips, his heart a bit more at ease. “You’re late, Captain!”

“I’m late!” Luffy agreed excitedly. “Wait, why am I late?”

As Sanji was about to respond, the ground underneath them started rumbling and shaking, and Luffy had to jump away as the monster spider emerged from the ground, hissing furiously.

“For the party, of course!” he exclaimed, courage coursing through his veins as Luffy landed next to him. “Zoro here was about to steal all the fun and take on the monster spider. _Alone_.”

Zoro sent him a glare, and he merely cocked an eyebrow at the swordsman.

_Serves you right for scaring the crap out of me,_ he thought bitterly. If Zoro had sensed that Luffy was close by, he could have said something! For a moment there, Sanji thought that Zoro had actually lost it and was about to take all of them alone.

“Zoro!” Luffy chided, hands placed on his hips, “that’s very…rude of you! In this crew, we share things!”

“Yeah! Tell him, Luffy!” Sanji encouraged, muffling his giggles by covering his mouth with his hand.

Suddenly, an appendage appeared in his field of vision, raised high above them, posed to strike. They only had a few seconds before it came hurling down, drilling into the ground.

“Yosh! Let’s do this, guys!” Luffy yelled, grinning sharply.

Each of them surrounded the monster spider from three different locations, rushing towards it in a triangle formation. By combining their strength, the three of them managed to defeat the monster spider quite easily, and with little, to no grave injuries besides a few scraps here and there.

As they made their way out of the cave from the path Luffy had come from, he and Zoro had fallen back a few steps behind as Luffy guided them on the front.

“So, that was quite the spectacle back there.” Zoro mused, hands locked behind his head.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sanji said tartly, gaze glued straight ahead.

“Oh, yeah? Then I must have imagined you crying and whimpering in fear like a little girl.”

Sanji bit down on his lower lip. “I don’t know what kind of fantasies you’re into, but it would be better to keep them to yourself.”

Suddenly, a muscular arm was wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him in. “I didn’t expect to see you in that state so soon, but I’m not one to complain when offered such a sight. A shame I wasn’t the one that caused it, though.” Zoro whispered against Sanji’s ear, and then immediately released him, walking ahead.

As soon as Zoro’s words registered in his head, a flush dusted his cheeks, cursing at Zoro under his breath.

_Perverted bastard._

It took them a few hours to reach the Sunny, as Luffy kept getting distracted by every odd thing they happened to come across on their way back. Zoro was the first one to get onboard, muttering something about ‘ _dying_ ’ and ‘ _need booze_ ’ (the classic, barbarian alcoholic).

“You finally made up with Zoro.”

Sanji turned towards Luffy, shooting him a confused look. “Finally made up…?”

Luffy nodded, “Before we reached this island, Zoro and Sanji were _very_ mean to each other— more than normally!” Luffy stuck out his lower lip, pouting. “I don’t like it when my nakama fight each other, so I hoped that Nami’s plan to leave you two alone would work out, and it did!” Luffy beamed at him.

“This requires a celebration! Let’s have a feast!” Luffy whooped as he launched himself onto the Sunny.

Sanji gaped at Luffy’s retreating form, and then his eyes softened, mouth curving into a smile.

_Sorry for making you worry, Captain._

* * *

After two days, they had managed to gather everyone back on the Sunny to throw the feast that Luffy had been anticipating. As Sanji was in the galley, preparing the dishes, the door was pushed open.

“How many times do I have to fucking say it, Luffy? The food is not ready ye— R-Robin-chan!” Sanji’s face flushed as Robin stood in the door, staring at him with a knowing smile.

“I-I’m so sorry, my sweet Robin-chan, I didn't mean to yell at you! I thought that you were that idiotic rubber again.” He explained, offering her an apologetic smile.

Robin shook her head as she walked further in and sat on the dining table. “It’s quite alright, cook-san, I understand.”

“Thank you for being so forgiving, my angel!” he gushed, and continued cooking.

“If you don’t mind me asking, cook-san,” Robin started, “from what I assume, I believe you made good use of your time here alone, correct?”

Sanji blinked, and glanced at Robin in confusion. “I apologize, my flower, but I do not quite understand what you…?”

Robin placed her right elbow on the table and propped her chin on her palm, whilst her left hand rested flat on the wooden surface. A cryptic glint flashed in her eyes as she smiled at him. “Why, I’m talking about you and swordsman-san, of course.”

Once the meaning behind Robin’s words registered in his head, he started fumbling and stuttering, hands flailing around. “I— it’s not like that, Robin-chan! While it’s true that me and marimo had a few differences, and the time that was provided did help us to solve our problems, but it was nothing more than that! A…a friendly misunderstanding. You do know, dear, as well as everyone on this ship, that me and Zoro do not see eye to eye very often.” He reasoned, chuckling nervously.

Robin hummed, “I would actually say that it’s the opposite. You two do seem…a lot closer. Although, I can’t say that for sure, as I haven’t been a part of the crew from the start.”

Sanji felt cold sweat drip down from his forehead, palms becoming clammy. He waved with his hand in a dismissive manner as he said; “Surely, you must be mistaken, Robin-chan, me and marimo can barely tolerate each other!”

_Are we really that fucking obvious? We haven’t even done anything suggestive in front of the crew that would raise suspicions!_ he thought anxiously, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

_Maybe it’s because Robin-chan is so perceptive? Ah, my sweet Robin-chwan! What a powerful woman!_

“I reckon I should probably leave you to your craft now,” Robin announced as she pushed off the dinner table and walked towards the door. “Thank you for your time, cook-san.”

“You know I’m always available for you, Robin-chan!” he simpered.

“Oh, and, cook-san?” Robin paused and glanced over her shoulder, hand wrapped around the door handle.

“Yes, my dear?” he prompted.

“Congratulations.” She said and walked out of the galley, leaving a stunned Sanji alone.

* * *

Time flowed, and soon, almost three months had passed since he and Zoro had become an item. For the longest time, things on the Sunny were surprisingly quiet. ‘Quiet’ for their standards meant Luffy was thrown overboard at least once a day, he and Zoro still fought and bickered five times a day (two on their best days), and overall, one huge mess.

Sanji wouldn’t have it any other way, however, as this was who his family was.

Nevertheless, Sanji felt as if there was…something missing. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint what was troubling him, but for some reason, every time he spent time with Zoro, he would feel a certain hole in his chest, something yet to be fulfilled.

It was longing.

Longing for what, though? As far as Sanji knew, he pretty much had everything. Yet, something was still itching, prying at his soul relentlessly.

Then, one day, it occurred to him.

The mating bite. It probably wasn’t as evident to him, as he was a normal human, but the urge was still there, somehow. Although, the real question was; did he want to make that commitment? According to werewolf culture, the mating bite was something sacred, once-in-a-life-time chance. Once the pact was created, a bond established, connecting two souls, there was no turning back.

Was Sanji willing to accept Zoro for the rest of his life? He pondered on that particular subject for quite a while, his mind becoming a mess. What if they didn’t work out in the end? What if they did actually go through with it, only for Sanji to later on realize that he wasn’t ready for that commitment?

Yet, as several doubts ran through his mind, one truth was crystal clear. There was no one other out there like Zoro. As sappy as it sounded, Sanji was completely sure that he would never be able to find someone like Zoro. Someone that he could trust one hundred percent, someone that shared the same ambition as him, respected and supported his dream.

Someone that would give up his own life for Sanji without a moment of hesitation.

Subsequently, every voice that spewed doubts were pushed to the back of his head, becoming powerless. Sanji knew what his decision was, knew what he was after. A life with the swordsman at his side.

Some time after he had come to his decision, he started noticing a rather…peculiar change, which only applied to the werewolves, and mostly Zoro. Whenever Sanji was in a close vicinity with him, the swordsman would act very out of character; he would flinch and shy away from Sanji’s touch, as if burned, and even stutter through his words.

Zoro _never_ stutters.

Sanji was sure that he wouldn’t get any answers from Zoro, for the man barely managed not to malfunction as they talked. Thus, he went to Robin for help (Sanji had long since accepted that she had knowledge of his relationship between him and Zoro, and had stopped pretending at least in front of her, which had actually made things a bit easier, as he now had someone to confide in).

Sanji gently rapped his knuckles on the door, waiting patiently for a reply. When a smooth voice responded, he opened the door and walked into the library.

“Ah, cook-san, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Sanji raised the tray, a small smile on his face as he walked up to Robin at the desk. “I thought you’d like some refreshment, my dear.” He placed the drink on the table and bowed.

“Thank you,” she gave him a smile and glanced down at the book in her hands again.

Sanji stood there, holding the tray flat over his thighs, fidgeting for a few seconds as he wasn’t sure how to exactly word out his thoughts.

“Is there something troubling you, cook-san?”

“Yes, actually, Robin-chan, I’m terribly sorry for wasting your time, but I had a question concerning the marimo.” He admitted, immediately feeling like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

Robin marked the page she was on and closed the book, turning her full attention towards him. “What is it that you’d like to know, cook-san?”

Sanji rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed it— you probably have, as Robin-chwan is so perceptive!” he chirped, and continued, “but the thing is, I think Zoro has been acting kind of…weird? For example, he keeps fumbling over his words and generally is…very jumpy.”

Robin hummed in agreement, crossing her one leg over the other. “I assume you have noticed that he acts in this particular way only around you, correct?”

Sanji blinked, slowly lowering his arm. “Uh, well, yeah, I guess…but why is he acting like this? I have come to you for help, because you have a vast knowledge on werewolves…” he trailed off.

“By the looks of it, every sign leads me to believe that swordsman-san’s mating season will arrive soon.” Robin speculated, and peered up at Sanji. “I suspect you must already know by now a few things concerning werewolves’ mating seasons? If not, I could—”

“Oh, no, no, I’m perfectly okay, Robin-chan!” he interjected, feeling awful for interrupting Robin, “I wouldn’t want to take up any more of your precious time— besides, I think I have the gist of it. Thank you for your assistance, my dear!” he bowed, and then whirled around, walking fast out of the library.

Sanji stood there, leaned against the door, and sighed. He pressed his lips into a thin line as he glanced up at the crow’s nest where Zoro spent his time scooped up for most of the day.

The information he had read from the book all those weeks ago flashed through his mind, thickly swallowing. He had to do it, he couldn’t let Zoro suffer through one week, possibly even more, through that alone. Besides, it’s not as if Sanji will be forced to it…for a while now, he has actually wanted to take their relationship a step further, to explore the sexual aspect of it.

With a determined nod, he walked down the stairs, and walked towards the bottom of the crow’s nest. In a few seconds, he had climbed up the ladder and stepped inside, closing the hatch beneath him. Sanji stood up, gaze falling over Zoro, almost choking on his own spit as the swordsman was currently topless, sweat glistening on his muscled chest and biceps.

Sanji took a deep breath, calming himself down and turned back to Zoro again. “Zoro,” he called out, “we need to talk.”

Zoro paused and glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. “Talk, then.” He replied curtly and started swinging his weights again.

Sanji felt his eye twitch in irritation, but decided to ignore Zoro’s rude behavior, giving him the benefit of the doubt, considering why he has been acting so strangely lately. He passed by Zoro, moved towards the couch to Zoro’s left side and sat down.

“I’ll help you.” He stated.

Zoro faltered in his swings, but despite that, didn’t show any more disturbance. “Help me with what?” he grunted.

“What else, you moron? Do I need to spell it out for you, too?”

Zoro frowned and stopped swinging, the weight supported on his shoulders. “Look, curly-brow, if you came here just to insult me—”

“I know your mating season is coming soon, and I decided to help you with it.” Sanji declared.

Zoro snapped his head towards him, eyes going round. His grip seemed to slacken and the weight slammed against the wooden floor, making a small dent. Zoro cursed and quickly lifted it, another stream of curses following as he looked at the floor.

“No.” Zoro refused, “You won’t help me with anything. I can handle it on my own.”

“What?” Sanji’s mouth dropped in shock, “Why the fuck not?” he stood up, hands clenched at his sides.

Zoro let out a heavy sigh as he walked back to the rack and placed his weight down. “Just leave it alone, cook. I already made my decision.”

“To hell with your ‘decision’, I’m not going to let you suffer when I can clearly help you!” Sanji retorted, and then narrowed his eyes. “What, is it because I’m not good enough for his majesty? Perhaps you would have liked to go with a woman? I can’t blame you, honestly— why go with me when you can have a goddess?”

“Do _not_ put words into my fucking mouth!” Zoro bellowed, turning to glare at him. “Do you really think so low of me? This has nothing to do with you, it’s for a personal reason, alright?! I have dealt with this in the past alone, and I can do it again!”

Sanji rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, suddenly it has _nothing_ to do with me. Okay, I got the message loud and clear, sorry for wasting your _precious fucking time._ ” He spat and started walking towards the hatch door.

“Fuck, that’s— that’s not it!” Zoro protested and stormed forward, grabbing Sanji by the elbow. “Will you fucking listen to me for a second?!”

“I _have_ been listening to you, and it seems like I’m not wanted here!” Sanji struggled against Zoro’s iron grip. “Let me go!”

“Not until you calm down and _actually_ listen to me, shit-cook!”

“You god damn fucking mutt,” Sanji ignored him and kept struggling, “with your stupid muscles and stupid, inhumane strength—”

Suddenly, Sanji found himself slammed against the wooden floor, hands pinned at either side of his head. “I just don’t want our first time to be like this, okay?!” Zoro exploded, and once the words were out of his lips, his expression hardened.

Sanji stopped struggling and blinked up at Zoro in confusion. “What?”

Zoro’s cheeks slightly flushed as the man averted his eyes and slowly slackened his grip around Sanji’s wrists, pulling back. Sanji pushed against the floor with his hands and came up to a sitting position, eyebrows furrowed.

“When my mating season comes, I completely lose my senses. My instincts take over, and it could be very dangerous for the both of us. All we crave to do for a week is fuck continuously and mate, which I don’t…I don’t want to subject you to, especially not for our first time. Y-You deserve more than that…” Zoro mumbled.

Sanji’s eyes went round, butterflies fluttering in his stomach as Zoro kept glancing around anxiously. Zoro was actually concerned for him all this time? While Sanji had learned what a mating season entailed and knew this was one of those things, and had long since accepted it, Zoro was worrying and fretting over it because he thought he was going to _hurt_ Sanji.

_Idiot_ , he thought fondly, a wide grin stretching on his face. “Aw, was little marimo worried about me? You’re so cute~” he reached over and patted Zoro on the head while praising _‘Good boy!’_

Zoro growled and batted his hand away, “Knock that shit off, I’m being serious here!”

He raised his hands, palms showing in a defensive manner. “Okay, okay!” he slowly lowered his hands, and offered Zoro a gentle smile. “You know, I came here fully committed to help you. I might not be a werewolf, but I have learned a few things about how your mating season works and I’m prepared to take this to the final level.”

Zoro blinked dumbly at him, swallowing before hesitantly saying; “You mean…”

“I believe it’s called the ‘mating bite’?”

“But that’s— that’s binding for life! There’s no going back from—”

“Zoro,” Sanji interrupted, “do I look like the kind of guy to date another guy just for the shit and giggles? Especially with someone like you? I’ve known you for years now, and my opinion on this is not going to change. Unfortunately, I’m in this for life. And do you really think you could possibly hurt me?” Sanji scoffed, lifting his chin. “Don’t make me laugh.”

Zoro’s eyes softened for a fraction, but then as he registered the words, he scrunched up his nose. “What the fuck do you mean ‘someone like you’? What’s wrong with me, huh? Got a problem, shit-cook?”

As they started bickering, the permanent frown that had formed between Zoro’s eyebrows in the last couple of weeks slowly etched away, and Sanji knew that they were going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourselves because the next two chapters are going to be full of all the smut that has been absent up until this point!! ;))


	9. nine

It only took four more days for Zoro’s mating season to hit, thankfully enough for them to go through everything, in case the worst happened and one of them got hurt. They also got all the essentials, which was _a lot of fucking lube_ , apparently.

They had all decided to let them use the crow’s nest during this time, with the exception of only Sanji to be allowed in. Of course, the rest of the crew found out about him and Zoro, as it was impossible to hide it and give a reasonable excuse as to why Sanji was the only one allowed close to Zoro at this integral time, but as he overcame the first wave of embarrassment, he realized that…he didn’t really mind that the rest knew.

As Sanji woke up that day, the first thing he noticed was the puffing, hot breaths tickling his nape. He blinked his eyes open, vision blurry from sleep and disoriented as he tried to focus. Then, his heart jumped to his throat as he realized that a naked Zoro was laying half on top of him, slowly rolling his hips, erection rubbing against Sanji’s upper thigh.

“S-Sanji…”

He felt his face heat up as these words were whispered against his ear, a desperate tone in Zoro’s voice that Sanji never even imagined he’d get to hear.

“N-Need you…Sanji…” Zoro rasped, warm tongue lapping on Sanji’s nape, marking every patch of skin he could find.

A spark of jealousy exploded in his chest at the thought of someone else having seen Zoro in such a vulnerable state in the past, but quickly, shame washed over him and shook the thought away, refocusing on the task at hand.

“It's a bit difficult to do that if you don’t let me take my clothes off, marimo.” He said, and as he started prying Zoro’s heavy arm away from his chest, attempting to get up, Zoro growled and only tightened his grip around Sanji, locking him in place.

The action got to his nerves, and initially, his first reaction would be to shove Zoro off of him, but this time was different, this time he couldn’t do anything hasty and fuck this up.

_Calm down, deep breaths, you got this._

“Zoro,” he started calmly, “I’m not going anywhere, I promise, I just want to get these clothes off me so I can help you, alright? Will you let me go for a few seconds so I can do that?” he coaxed, turning his head to nose against Zoro’s hair.

After a few seconds of silence, Zoro started to slowly untangle himself from Sanji, giving him enough space to move, but still bodily sticking close to his side. An airy chuckle escaped his lips as he noticed the pout formed on Zoro’s lips, and swiftly took off his clothes, not wanting to torture Zoro any longer and laid down comfortably on the futon they had placed down days ago.

When Sanji had first learned about mating season and what it entailed, he automatically thought that with Zoro, it would be rough and domineering, allowing him little to no control, as Zoro was an Alpha and it would only be logical for him to want to take Sanji again and again however he pleased.

Nothing prepared him for the way Zoro positioned himself at the edge of his feet, grabbed his ankle and started slowly pressing kisses against the skin, slowly working his way up until Sanji was covered in bites and marks. If he didn’t know better, Sanji would have thought that Zoro was as responsive as normally, but didn’t fail to notice the grey curtain over Zoro’s dilated eyes.

“Come over here,” he said and Zoro obeyed, crawling up over Sanji. He placed his right hand over Zoro’s cheek and the swordsman immediately turned his face against Sanji’s hand, nuzzling against the palm. His eyes softened, the corner of his lips curving upwards as Zoro started rumbling low inside his throat, almost like a cat’s purring.

“You’re just a big kitty, aren’t you? I won’t be surprised if I actually end up giving you belly rubs.” He teased despite knowing that Zoro wouldn’t probably be able to comprehend what he was saying.

Then, he slid his hand behind Zoro’s head and gently pulled him down, locking their lips together. He allowed Zoro to take control of the kiss, the swordsman flicking his tongue over Sanji’s own, sharp canines nibbling on his lips. Suddenly, Zoro grounded his hips down, his hard cock rubbing against Sanji’s semi-erect one, the dry friction, borderline painful, sending shivers down his spine. Sanji moaned into the kiss, hips twitching upwards, and Zoro growled, repeating the motion.

Then, Zoro broke the kiss and sat back on his knees, legs positioned at either side of Sanji’s hips. He threaded his fingers through Sanji’s blonde locks and tugged forward, letting out low, frustrated grunts. Sanji understood what Zoro was requesting and pushed off the futon with his hands, lowering himself close to Zoro’s erection.

Without warning, the hand clutching his hair yanked him forward, lips awkwardly bumping against Zoro’s cock. “Watch it!” he snapped, and earned another growl as response from above him. He huffed, opened his mouth and wrapped his lips around the head of Zoro’s cock, hesitantly flicking his tongue over it.

The struggled moan he received encouraged him on, started being bolder as he relaxed his throat and pushed forward, taking in at least half of Zoro’s cock in his mouth. He started bobbing his head up and down, occasionally swallowing around it, and Zoro soon started trembling, hips twitching forward uncontrollably, sometimes accidentally hitting the back of Sanji’s throat.

When Zoro’s breath started becoming erratic, Sanji strained forward, nose grazing against the swordsman’s navel, his gag reflex slightly being triggered. Zoro howled as he tipped over the edge, trembling as he came down Sanji’s throat.

Sanji tried to swallow down the salty substance, but there was just no stop to it and pulled back, coughing as a few last drops fell over his mouth. He wiped the remaining off with Zoro’s discarded shirt on the floor and scrunched up his nose at the remaining taste.

Something nudged him from behind and as he turned to look, his eyes widened. “You’re still fucking hard? How?!” Zoro merely grunted and rubbed his erection against Sanji’s ass, burying his mouth against the crook of his neck.

Alarms blared inside Sanji’s head as Zoro pushed his hips forward, the thick head of his dick teasing against Sanji’s opening.

“Wait, wait, wait— wait a fucking second!” Sanji protested, and turned around, his heart breaking a little at Zoro’s distressed wail.

_How the fuck do I explain prepping to him? One bad move and it’d be the end_ , he thought and chewed on his lower lip. “I know you need to get this off your system as soon as possible, but you have to wait a few minutes to get myself prepared,” Sanji explained, and hoped that Zoro would at least give him some time, “if you don’t let me do this, it will be very painful for me, and I think that’s the last thing you want to do. Do you want to hurt me, Zoro?”

Zoro lowered his head, features pinched together in a pained expression, as if actually understanding what Sanji had just told him. And perhaps he did, as somewhere deep down, Zoro was still there.

Sanji took advantage of the time he was given and quickly reached over for the bottle of lube, fumbling with it as he coated his fingers with a generous amount. He reached behind him with trembling fingers and slowly eased in one finger, gasping at the weird feeling. He pumped his finger for a few seconds, and then added another, hips twitching at the delicious stretch. Soon, he had four fingers inside of him, kneeling on the futon, hunched over as he had his left forearm placed down.

Suddenly, his fingers were yanked away, and something much thicker pressed against his hole, slowly sliding in, stretching him impossibly wide. Sanji’s mouth dropped open, a strangled moan escaping his lips as Zoro bottomed out.

“O-Oh, god, f-fuck, fucking _fuck_ ,” he choked as Zoro draped himself over Sanji’s back and started thrusting his hips forward. This new sensation felt so weird, but at the same time _so addictive_ , as he had never considered to use that place up till now, and the fullness, the maddening drug against his ring of muscles was driving him insane.

“S-Sanji…Sanji, _Sanji_ …” Zoro kept whimpering out his name at every thrust, one arm coming to wrap around Sanji’s chest whilst the other covered his own on the futon, fingers interlocking.

Sanji’s knees felt weak and slid down, laying completely flat against the futon as Zoro rocked his hips forward, rutting back and forth in erratic moves. The new position stimulated his front, as his hard, leaking cock was now trapped between his belly and the futon, rubbing against the covers below with every thrust.

Then, Zoro unintentionally shifted, and that’s when he felt it. Shockwaves rippled through his body, mouth dropping open into a silent scream, his vision going momentarily white. Zoro growled from behind him as his body seized up, and picked up pace, repeatedly grazing over that particular spot that made him see stars.

Sanji kept letting out small whines every time Zoro rocked forward, his mind went fuzzy as he reached his peak, spilling on the covers. His back arched, and started feeling hypersensitive as his spent cock kept rubbing against the covers. Zoro soon followed, pulsing inside Sanji with a shout.

His chest rose and fell with rapid breaths, his body tingling in bliss, reveling in ecstasy. After a few minutes, slowly getting down from the high of the orgasm, Sanji quivered, skin prickling as Zoro started gently rocking against him, still hard as rock inside him.

“Why the fuck do you have to have such good stamina?” he complained and moved forward, Zoro’s cock slipping away from inside him. He suddenly felt oddly empty. As he turned around, Zoro kept blindly reaching forward, whimpering at the loss of friction.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, just wait for a second,” Sanji laid with his back on the futon beneath, squeezed his legs together and pulled them until he was almost folded in half.

“C’mere.” Zoro moved forward, and once he was positioned close enough, Sanji helped him guide his dick through the tight space between the meat of his joined thighs. “That’s a good boy.” He praised as Zoro started fucking between his thighs, hips twitching uncontrollably.

Zoro leaned forward, his weight adding further pressure to his raised legs against his chest and buried his face against the crook of his neck, licking and nibbling on the sensitive skin there. As Zoro kept fucking his thighs, every time he thrusted forward the tip of his cock kept hitting on the bottom of Sanji’s balls, thus his body twitched in oversensitivity, his dick slowly coming back to life.

It didn’t take much longer for Zoro to finish, as he came between his thighs and then completely collapsed over Sanji, crushing him with his weight. Sanji carefully rolled the swordsman off of him and laid him down next to him gently on the futon. Then, he quickly took care of his own second erection, ejaculating into his hand in a manner of minutes.

He grabbed a piece of cloth from the bench and returned quickly thoroughly wiping himself from any remains and then performed the same process with Zoro. When Sanji was done, he placed the cloth beside the futon on the wooden floor and then turned towards Zoro, a tired smile twitching on his lips as the man was already dead asleep, snoring away.

“Mark my god damn words; when this is all over, I’ll fucking work you like a mule.” He promised, the words whispered and then huddled up closer to Zoro, throwing an arm over the man’s waist.

He was asleep in seconds.

* * *

When Sanji regained consciousness again, he noticed that it was morning, as the warm sun rays that streamed through the windows of the crow’s nest grazed his skin. He rubbed his eyes and tried to get up to a sitting position, but strong hands holding either of his hips kept him down.

Panic dropped low in his gut and whipped his head over his shoulder, “Zoro, sto—”

“It’s— it’s okay, n-not doing anything…just wanna check if…I hurt you,” Zoro said groggily, glancing up at him with a pinched expression, as if he was in pain.

Sanji’s eyes went round, mouth dropping open as he analyzed the situation and realized that Zoro was…checking to see if he had hurt him, struggling to hold himself sane. A blush crept up his face as he noticed that Zoro was currently fully erect and leaking.

His eyes softened, heart twinging painfully as he observed Zoro, the swordsman restlessly twitching and panting heavily, obviously drowning in pain and frustration, but fighting with everything he’s got to stay sane and make sure that Sanji was not hurt in any way.

Sanji turned over and sat down, reaching out and tagging at Zoro’s ear, “Did you really think you’d be able to hurt me? Oh, that’s so cute!” Sanji cooed, “You struggle to land one scratch on me when you’re at your best, imagine how easy it is to overpower you now!”

He cackled and ducked, avoiding a weak punch that was sent towards his face. Zoro’s face was flushed from embarrassment as he yelled; “S-Shut up!”

Sanji grinned and rapped his knuckles gently against Zoro’s head. “Don’t think too much, idiot, your bird-sized brain will malfunction even more than it is now. You just sit back and let me take care of this,” He leaned forward and pressed their lips together into a slow kiss.

Immediately, Zoro whimpered and curled up closer, clinging desperately against him, and Sanji smiled into the kiss. He reached with one hand between them and wrapped it around Zoro’s erection, giving an experimental tug. Zoro gasped against Sanji’s lips, hips twitching forward, towards his hand.

Sanji started stroking Zoro’s cock in a lazy pace, occasionally flicking his thumb over the head, pressing down against the opening. Zoro growled, shooting him a glare, but he merely smirked, maintaining his pace. Suddenly, Sanji found himself pinned down against the futon, an added weight holding him down from above.

He blinked, and glanced down, eyes widening, blood rushing to his face when he felt Zoro wrap his hand around Sanji’s semi-erect cock and line it up against his opening.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Sanji yelled, and pushed against Zoro’s face, “Wait, you fucking ape! You didn’t even prepare yourself, you can’t just shove that—”

“I did,” Zoro interjected, “before you— when you were…asleep…”

Sanji remained stunned, frozen on the spot, processing Zoro’s words for a few seconds. When they finally registered in his mind, something hot curled low in his gut, throat closing up as his cock twitched at the thought of _Zoro, with his fingers coated up with lube while on his knees, bent over and fingering himself open—_

He gripped Zoro’s hips, fingers digging into the skin, but before he knew it, his hands were locked together, a bigger hand grasping his wrists on the verge of it being painful, pinning them down above his hands. Sanji’s breath hitched in his throat as Zoro’s face appeared inches away from his face, lips pulled back in a snarl.

“ _Stay down_.” Zoro warned and he thickly swallowed, nodding once. After he deemed that Sanji would obey, he slightly leaned back, although still keeping Sanji’s wrists pinned down, and with his other free hand reached back and grabbed Sanji’s cock, positioning it against his hole.

Zoro slowly sank down, and Sanji groaned, hips twitching as his cock was engulfed in tight and hot walls, deliciously squeezing down on him. Zoro bottomed out and allowed himself to lean onto Sanji, almost crushing him under the added weight and muscles. The swordsman lifted his hips and then slammed back down, moaning against Sanji’s ear.

Sanji turned his head to the side and placed a kiss on the corner of Zoro’s lips, and the swordsman turned his head, meeting him halfway as they brushed their lips. His thighs twitched as Zoro started fucking himself onto Sanji’s cock, their moans and grunts, the lewd sound of skin slapping against skin being mixed, echoing throughout the crow’s nest.

“God, you’re so— you’re so fucking _tight_ , fuck.” Sanji moaned, struggling to keep his hips as still as possible. He never thought that a day like this would ever arrive, where Zoro would be willing to be on the receiving end. Sanji always connected this position with being vulnerable and weak, but once again, he was proved wrong, as Zoro had him currently pinned down, riding him and still emitting such dominating aura.

It made Sanji wonder…just how rough would Zoro get with him, if asked for it? Or if Sanji riled him up enough, in what way would he retaliate now that they were together…?

He gasped, hips twitching forward, and flushed as he felt Zoro smirk against his neck. “Is it that…good?” Zoro teased, dipping his tongue into Sanji’s collarbone.

“I’ve had better,” Sanji shot back, but as Zoro’s eyes narrowed, a stormy look gleaming in his eyes, he realized that it was the wrong thing to say. Immediately, Zoro’s grip on Sanji’s wrists tightened, and the other came up and closed around his throat, giving a warning squeeze.

“Say that again.” Zoro ordered, a possessive flame burning into his eyes as he stared right through him.

Sanji swallowed with difficulty, as Zoro’s hand, even though not gripping him that tightly to restrict oxygen, the burn was still there. The feeling of handing over his life, _himself_ over to someone else, as with a mere squeeze, Zoro could, if he decided so, to deny him any oxygen, rendering him helpless— it was exhilarating. As Sanji opened his mouth to speak, though, only a whine escaped his lips.

Zoro blinked in confusion and leant back, his grip on Sanji’s wrists slackening, sitting upright, yet his hand around Sanji’s neck remained. Sanji breathed heavily, taking in deep, and slow breaths, fingers twitching as he tried to get the feeling back in them, and averted his eyes, staring off to the side, choosing to remain silent.

What the fuck could he say, anyways? That he just discovered, completely coincidently, that he has a thing for Zoro choking him? Even the thought renders him a flushed, ashamed mess, because that’s just…fucking _weird_ and _not normal_. Well, on the other hand, Sanji is currently having sex with Zoro, as the swordsman was literally _sitting on his cock_. If somebody had told him that three months ago, Sanji would have just laughed in their face and thought of them as insane.

Yet, here he was, having gone through so much, to finally end up with the swordsman, and despite it all, Sanji doesn’t think that he has ever felt so… _happy_ in his life before. So, if he managed to overcome that huge obstacle and accept his feelings for Zoro, how catastrophic would it be to let himself go, for once, and not think about the consequences of his actions, or if they were considered as ‘normal’ or not from the world?

With a renewed spark of courage, Sanji moved his one hand down and slowly covered Zoro’s own around his neck, giving an experimental squeeze. He shyly glanced back at the swordsman, anticipating anxiously his response.

Once the realization dawned on Zoro, his nostrils flared, a hungry glint blazing in his eyes. “That’s right,” he said, lips twitching into a smirk, “just sit back and take it like a good boy.” Then, Zoro started moving his hips again, impaling himself onto Sanji’s cock as he tightened his grip around the blonde’s neck.

It didn’t take long for Sanji to cum, as the slight restriction of oxygen made him feel lightheaded, pain and pleasure becoming a delightful mix. His back arched, toes curling as he pulsed inside Zoro with a strangled noise. Zoro soon followed, yet he was flying high on post-orgasmic bliss, too out of it to respond when the swordsman jerked himself off and came all over Sanji’s chest.

When Sanji gradually snapped back into reality, he weakly glanced down and groaned, head falling back against the futon. Zoro was licking away all of his semen from Sanji’s chest, tongue lapping over his abs and slowly making his way up Sanji’s pecs.

“Y-You’re gonna kill me,” Sanji rasped out, skin prickling as Zoro flicked his tongue over his right nipple.

Zoro hummed and latched his teeth onto the nipple, giving it a gentle tug as he peered up at Sanji, “By the time I’m finished with you, you won’t be able to walk for a week.”

_Fuuuuck._

And as promised, after that, Zoro fucked him on his back for _hours_ , having him bent in half, feet hooked behind his own head as Zoro pounded into him. By the time they were finished, Sanji couldn’t move a muscle, but thankfully, Zoro somehow had managed to keep himself from submitting to his instincts and took care of Sanji for the rest of the night.

* * *

The moon was high up in the night sky, light seeping through the windows. Sanji was currently lying on his front, arms crossed in front of him, chin propped up on them as Zoro sat on his thighs, skillful hands on his hips, thumbs massaging the dip of his back.

Sanji let out a deep sigh, eyes closed in serenity. “Perhaps you should reconsider your primal set of skills, cause these hands are doing _wonders_ , and it would be such a shame to see them waste away with a bunch of toy swords.”

“If you don’t shut up, I’ll rip you a new one.” Zoro threatened, although his hands continued working on his lower back.

“Ooh, don’t threaten me with a good time,” Sanji purred, flashing Zoro a grin over his shoulder. The swordsman narrowed his eyes, but then turned his eyes back down on Sanji’s back, sniffing.

“Didn’t know you were such a freak, cook.”

Sanji’s grin slipped from his face, cheeks turning scarlet. “Those are some big words coming from someone who enjoyed it just as much!” he accused, voice high-pitched.

Zoro merely shrugged a shoulder, and leaned down, pressing a kiss in the dip of his lower back. Sanji inhaled sharply as Zoro slowly moved upwards, leaving a trail of wet, open-mouthed kisses in his wake. Fingers grazed against the small stumble on his chin and tilted his head to the side. Lips brushed over his own, a tongue flicking over Sanji’s lower lip.

Sanji leaned forward and pressed their lips together into a sensual kiss. His heart stuttered, feeling like he was soaring. With Zoro by his side, in the dark, alone, Sanji felt like he was invincible, as if he could take on the whole world and come out as the winner. Being with Zoro, nothing else mattered, and Sanji, for the first time in his life, felt raw. Bare. Like the swordsman could see every little detail, every little lie, every little flaw.

They broke apart, gasping for air, lips just barely touching each other, teasing. Zoro gazed at him with a soft and endeared expression, happiness.

Zoro could rip him apart, read him like a book, but Sanji wouldn’t mind.

And that _scared_ him.

Zoro went limp over his back, face buried into the crook of Sanji’s neck as he mumbled incoherently under his breath.

“Oi, don’t fall asleep, you still have some work to do!” he badgered, and his eye twitched as Zoro grumbled _‘annoying shit-cook’_ , voice muffled against his neck. “Look here, you—”

“Love you…” Zoro muttered and then started snoring, drooling against his neck.

Normally, Sanji would have kicked Zoro off for even daring to drool anywhere near him, least of all right on his neck, but his brain had short-circuited, blood rushing to his ears. He knew that Zoro harbored strong feelings for him, strong enough to want a relationship, but Sanji still had his doubts, lurking in the back of his head.

Something wet fell upon his hand, and Sanji blinked, snapping back to reality. He lifted his hand and touched his cheek, realizing where the wetness came from. Sanji furiously rubbed any evidence away, sniffing. Thank god Zoro slept like a fucking rock, as the swordsman seeing him like this was the last thing he wanted.

Sanji gently tried to roll him away from his back and beside him on the futon, cursing as his grip slipped and Zoro sprawled half on the floor, half onto the futon. He waited, and let out a relieved sigh when Zoro just snored on without a care in the world. Sanji scrunched up his nose as drool started to drip from the corner of Zoro’s mouth and snorted, as the swordsman almost choked with his own saliva.

His eyes softened as he stared at Zoro’s dumb sleeping face and reached over, skimming his fingers over his three earrings, making a jingling sound. Sanji leaned forward and brushed his lips over Zoro’s forehead.

“Thank you,” he whispered, a secret only for his own ears.

_Thank you for loving me._

* * *

As the days passed, Sanji realized that Zoro, after the first day of his mating season had passed, had his senses and was able to, if concentrated enough, be conscious and have his full memories. The only difference was that Zoro was merely more…sexually driven and moody these days.

It seemed like the worst wave that was on the first day had passed, and now Zoro acted almost as normal as on his usual days, which surprised even him, as Zoro confirmed that in all of his previous mating seasons, all of his days had been pretty much awful, succumbed to his instincts and no memories intact.

Therefore, on the seventh day in, Sanji thought that I’d be safe to leave Zoro alone for a while, as the man was currently sleeping either way, and climbed down from the crow’s nest to head towards the showers. After he had taken a thorough shower, made sure that he was spotless and cleaned from the sweat and dried semen, Sanji walked towards the galley.

When he walked in, he found Nami and Robin close to the kitchen counter, and Luffy with his forehead against the table.

“Ah, my sweet Nami-san and Robin-chan! Oh, how I have missed seeing your angelic faces!” Sanji gushed, a hand placed over his chest.

Nami and Robin turned towards him, a look of surprise in their eyes. “Sanji-kun!” Nami exclaimed, “How are you here? Are you— is it over?” she asked as she grabbed a towel and cleaned her hands.

He shook his head, “No, not yet, but the marimo is currently sleeping, so I thought I’d come by and cook something. Unfortunately, I have been neglecting my duty, and it got forcingly bestowed upon you two, which is totally unacceptable!” he remarked and stepped further into the room. “Although, I must admit, it does smell delicious; may I ask what you two angels are cooking?”

“We have decided to make roasted chicken, but me and Robin could do it on our own, you don’t have to intervene, Sanji-kun. Either way, you must be quite exhausted, right?” Nami questioned and placed the towel back on the counter.

“Ah, I thought so!” he noted, “Oh, no, no, no! You’ve been forced to do my work during this whole week, I can’t just sit back and let you do everything! At least let me do this once, I’m feeling fine, I promise.”

Nami sighed, “If you say so.”

Sanji gently took Nami’s hand in his own, “Thank you, my sweet ange—”

“Sanji! You’re finally here!”

Suddenly, another body came crashing against him, the strength behind the collision making him almost lose his footing as he stumbled a few steps back. Then, long limbs started stretching all around his arms and legs, locking him in place. Sanji glanced down, a wide smile spreading on his face. “Luffy! It’s been a while.”

Luffy flashed him a smile of his own, eyes crinkling as he nodded vigorously. “Sanji has been away forever! Zoro too! Why did you guys leave me?” Luffy stuck out his lower lip, pouting, “And then, when I tried to get to you guys, they wouldn’t let me! I even got grounded and Nami refused to give me meat for a day! A whole day, Sanji!” Luffy cried and squished his face against Sanji’s chest, holding onto him tighter.

“I want to eat your cooking again! And play with Zoro!”

Sanji chuckled and patted Luffy on the head, “Okay, okay, just be a good boy for a few more days and I promise, I’ll cook you whatever you want.”

Luffy’s eyes sparkled as he leaned into Sanji’s hand. “Really?! Yahoo!” he untangled himself from Sanji and threw his arms in the air. “But why can’t I come up there with you guys? Whenever I asked, Nami refused to tell me anything, and I don’t like it! I’m your Captain, I demand to know what’s going on!” Luffy declared, placing his hands on his hips.

He placed one hand on his hip and with the other reached over his shoulder, scratching the back of his head. “Uh, you see, Luffy, Zoro was feeling a bit… _off_ this week, so I was nursing him into getting better.” He explained, offering a wobbly smile.

Luffy cocked his head to the side, “Why isn’t Chopper taking care of him, then?”

“Cause he’s…um…” he glanced over at Nami and Robin for help, but Nami just shook her head at him and Robin had her eyes closed, leaned against the counter. “It’s because he’s very moody! And— and he doesn’t want to inconvenience Chopper and direct all of his sudden bursts of anger towards our little doctor, so thus, he decided to remain up in the crow’s nest until it passes.”

Luffy crossed his arms over his chest and hummed in thought. Sanji raised an eyebrow as Luffy leaned to one side, eyebrows furrowed, and then leaned to the other side, all while humming.

“Yosh! I’ll help, too!” Luffy suddenly exclaimed. “As Captain of this ship, it’s my duty to help my nakama in need!” he hit his palm with his fist, nodding once.

“No!” Sanji yelled, his face contorted into a horrified expression.

Did Luffy even realize what he had just offered? It never ceased to amaze him how Luffy was so innocent— he was a werewolf himself (although a beta), but still had no clue about mating season at all!

He cleared his throat and started again; “I’m sorry, Captain, but you can’t. Zoro…explicitly said that I’m the only one allowed up there, otherwise he’d get, um… _upset_. More than he already is.”

Luffy deflated, arms falling to either side. “I guess it makes sense as Zoro loves Sanji very much,” he said. “You better be fast, though! I don’t like waiting!”

Sanji’s whole face reddened, and stared dumbly at Luffy who skipped towards the door and stepped outside of the galley, yelling for Usopp. He’d never understand Luffy’s no filter ability, able to just blurt out whatever he thought without paying any mind to the consequences.

A chuckle snapped him back to reality, and he whipped his head up, flushing even more as Nami and Robin were both looking at him with a knowing smile on their faces.

“We’ll leave the rest upon your trustful hands, cook-san.” Robin said as she passed by him, heading for the door.

“I can’t wait to taste your cooking again, Sanji-kun!” Nami beamed. She let her hand slide over his collarbone as she passed by him, catching up to Robin.

“Swordsman-san isn’t going to be very pleased, you know?”

“Oh, it’s _fine_ — I just gave them a slight push towards the right direction!”

Both girls chuckled, and walked out of the galley, leaving him alone in the galley. Sanji brushed it off and pushed back his sleeves, finally getting to cook after a whole week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this chapter, we're only one away from the end!! (which, as I mentioned, is also going to be smut and some fluff, nothing major to the plot, but I thought it was an appropriate way to end this fic <3)


	10. ten

Although, he was a bit puzzled by what both Robin and Nami had said. Why wouldn’t Zoro be pleased? Perhaps he’d be a bit snappy at the fact that Sanji disappeared without saying anything to him beforehand, but only on the condition that Zoro woke up before Sanji managed to get up in the crow’s nest again, and he highly doubted that would happen. It’s not like he needed to be there all day long and attend to Zoro just like the first day, as he now had his full senses.

And what did Nami mean by giving him a push towards the right direction? It’s not like they were in denial about their feelings for each other, as Sanji was literally helping Zoro to get through his mating season, so what was the catch?

Sanji brushed the thought aside, as it must have probably been an inside joke between Robin and Nami. He started humming as he continued cooking from where Nami and Robin had left off, losing himself into his beloved craft, only realizing now how much he had missed it as his hands flew gracefully over the kitchen counter.

When he was finished, he called the others in for lunch, and prepared a different plate for Zoro. He gave a brief greeting to the rest of the crew and then headed towards the crow’s nest. As he climbed up and got through the hatch door, he found Zoro still sound asleep on the futon, and huffed.

“As if there was any chance this idiot would be awake,” he mumbled under his breath and placed the plate on the bench. Then, he walked over to Zoro, and cursed as he tripped over a weight that stood in the middle of the floor. “What the fuck is this doing over here? Franky built a rack for a reason!” Sanji bent down and grabbed it with his one hand, but the weight refused to budge.

_The hell?_

He wrapped his other hand around it, too, and then tried to lift it off the ground, but it barely budged an inch. “How the fuck does he even lift these things? What is he, a monster?” he tried again, but got the same results, and his blood started boiling.

Sanji stretched his leg behind him and kicked it with all of his might, sending it crashing against Zoro’s other weights in the corner. “Fucking finally!”

“Wha…”

“Well, well, well, look who decided to finally wake up!” Sanji turned towards Zoro, hands placed on his hips. “Did you enjoy your ten-hour nap, your highness?”

Zoro pushed off the floor and came up to a sitting position, dazingly blinking his eyes open, glancing around. “The fuck— what the hell did you do to my weights?!”

Sanji turned to the side and inspected his fingernails, “I have no idea what you’re talking about— why are you accusing _me_ anyways? It could have been anyone.”

“You’re the only one up here, dumbass!” Zoro exploded.

“Ah, well…oops?” Sanji held up his palms and shrugged his shoulders, a sheepish smile on his mouth.

“You—” Zoro stopped mid-sentence, and Sanji squirmed as the swordsman bored his eyes into him without saying a single word. Before he knew it, Sanji found himself hauled forward, as a hand fisted at his hair and yanked his head to the side, exposing his throat, lips grazing over his neck.

“Oi! What the fuck are you doing, asshole—”

“What the fuck did _you_ do?” Zoro growled, “All of my scent is wiped clean from you and the _only_ thing I can smell is Luffy and…that god damn fucking _sea witch_ ,” Zoro spat, grip tightening. “You couldn’t wait for one fucking week? You just _had_ to throw yourself at her feet, didn’t you?”

Sanji saw red, jaw clenching, “Be careful on how you address Nami-san, bastard! My sweet angel did nothing to deserve this slander of yours!”

Zoro’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes, and Sanji immediately felt the change in the atmosphere.

“Is she your Alpha?” Zoro asked, voice eerily calm, anxiety pooling low in Sanji’s gut.

“Well, no, but—”

“Is she. Your _Alpha_.” Zoro demanded, hissing against his ear.

Sanji’s heart jumped to his throat, and let out a shaky breath as he croaked out; “N-No. No, she isn’t.”

“Now, tell me; _who_ is your Alpha?”

“You are.” He answered in a whisper.

Zoro hummed in thought, and slackened his grip on Sanji’s hair, taking a step back. “You say that, but I feel like you don’t honestly believe it.” The corner of Zoro’s lips curved into a smirk as he glanced at Sanji, “Perhaps a lesson is in order?”

Sanji drily swallowed and gave a weak nod.

“Good boy. Now, on your knees.”

He felt blood rush to his face as the command stood out in the air, a tense silence following. Zoro’s smile faintly slipped at seeing his hesitance, and raised an eyebrow at him. Sanji averted his eyes and slowly slipped down on both of his knees, hands placed on his thighs.

“Was it this hard?” Zoro said, his voice lighter, playful.

“No, it wasn’t.” he responded, and gasped as fingers gripped his chin, tilting his head up.

“You look at me when I’m talking to you, got it?”

“Yes, I— I’m sorry.” He stuttered, dazed. He knew that Zoro generally had an overwhelming presence which only increased when he was in battle, but this…this was entirely different. Sanji’s skin prickled with every command, as if _compelled_ to follow.

A flame was ignited in his soul, and Sanji wanted to be on his best behavior, to get Zoro’s approval, wanted to give him _everything_ , but then, he wanted to push Zoro to his limits, to see where the swordsman would go, just what exactly he would do to Sanji, to get him in his place.

Zoro crouched down and peered into Sanji’s eyes, “Perhaps I prolonged it for too long.” he murmured, thumb lightly brushing over the blonde’s cheek.

Sanji leaned against Zoro’s hand, briefly closing her eyes as he hummed. “P-Perhaps you did,” he opened his eyes just a crack, the corner of his lips twitching into a lopsided grin, “what kind of Alpha are you, really?”

Zoro’s hand tensed up against Sanji’s cheek, a wide, sharp grin stretching on his mouth.

“Guess I’ll just have to show you, then.”

He stood up and walked back to the futon, grabbing the bottle of lube. As Zoro walked back, he tossed the bottle in front of Sanji’s legs. “Stretch yourself out.” Then, he passed by Sanji and sat on the couch, manspreading as he lifted both his arms and placed them over the back of the couch.

Sanji turned his head away from Zoro and back on the bottle of lube on the floor next to his knees. He chewed on the inner of his cheek, hands fisting the fabric of his pants on his lap.

Could he really do it? In front of Zoro, bared for him everything to see? He couldn’t back down, either. Sanji provoked Zoro, an Alpha, and the swordsman was just keeping his promise. He took in a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, reaching down for the bottle of lube. Then, as he started turning to face Zoro, the swordsman spoke up.

“Remain facing the opposite direction while you do it.”

Sanji froze, eyes going round at the command.

_Could he do it?_

“Of course, if you can’t handle it, you’re always welcome to back out.” Zoro offered, voice in a playful tone, but Sanji could still detect the lightness behind this, _a way out_ , if he really needed to.

Sanji turned back to the front, placed the bottle down and, with trembling hands, started taking off his clothes. He worked on his belt, and once he had taken that off, he unzipped his pants, taking them off. Then, he slowly took off his underwear, too, able to feel Zoro’s heated gaze upon him. Sanji remained only with his button-down blue shirt, the hem of the shirt barely grazing over his behind.

_If he wants a fucking show, I’ll give it to him._

Sanji grabbed the bottle of lube, popped the cap open and squirted a generous amount on his fingers. He spread his knees wide and crawled forward, placing his head and shoulders against the wooden floor while arching his back, ass up in the air. Sanji reached back with his right, coated hand in lube, and slightly pressed his middle finger against his opening.

He let out a gasp as he slid his finger in, slowly working it up to the second knuckle. After a few more thrusts, he slowly slipped in a second finger, moaning at the slight stretch.

If Sanji was about to be exposed and humiliated in front of Zoro’s watchful eyes, then he would make sure that he drove the swordsman _insane_.

He moved back against his fingers, occasionally rolling his hips, cock throbbing between his legs, already leaking precum. He picked up the pace, fingering himself with two fingers, scissoring his entrance to stretch it even more.

Then, he sunk in three fingers, a loud moan escaping his lips. “Mm, Z-Zoro…” he purred, lips stretching wide into a grin as he heard a gasp behind him. “More…need more, please—”

Sanji cried out in surprise as a calloused palm was wrapped around his wrist and yanked his hand away from himself. Then, hands grabbed his ass and spread him, revealing his entrance. Something wet and warm was flicked over his hole, and his whole face reddened as he realized that Zoro was using his fucking _tongue_.

“Wait, Zoro, that’s—” he choked out a cry as Zoro tongued at his hole, breaching through the tight ring of muscle. Sanji scraped his nails down on the wooden floor, pushing his hips against Zoro’s mouth as the swordsman started fucking him with his tongue.

“O-Oh, god, oh fuck, don’t you fucking stop, just like that, yes, yes, _yes_ —" he whimpered and came untouched, spilling all over the floor below him, the orgasm slamming through him like waves.

Sanji knees buckled and he collapsed against the ground, chest rising and falling with rapid breaths.

“Sanji.”

His body tingled at the dark tone, and internally cursed, as he knew that if Zoro continued this, he would turn him on by just simply calling out his name. Sanji dazingly blinked as two legs appeared in his vision, and slowly pushed off the floor, coming into a sitting position. Sanji struggled to swallow through the lump that had formed in his throat as Zoro stood tall in front of him, his erection straining against his black pants, a disapproving frown marring his features.

“Did I give you permission to cum?”

Sanji’s breath hitched in his throat, opening and closing his mouth uselessly as he tried to find his words. “I— it’s not like I did it on purpose! It’s because you kept,” he flailed, hands gesturing in the air, “kept doing that _thing_ with your tongue, and I couldn’t help it!”

Zoro stared down at him for a few seconds in silence, unimpressed, and then, the next thing Sanji knew, he was grabbed and thrown over the swordsman’s shoulder. For a moment, he blinked in confusion, and then drew his lips back in a snarl, pounding his fists against Zoro’s back. “Put me down, asshole! What the fuck do you think—”

Sanji was thrown against the futon, an unmanly yelp escaping his lips as he landed quite roughly on his ass. As he was about to retaliate, fingers gripped his chin tightly, raising up his head. Zoro moved forward, kneeling between the blonde’s legs.

Zoro stuck out his chin, staring down at Sanji with a superior glint in his eyes. “You will not speak unless you’re spoken to. Understood?”

He nodded, and rasped out ‘yes’, earning an approving nod from Zoro. Then, the swordsman released Sanji and reached over for the other, still unused bottle of lube they kept beside the futon and popped the cap open. Zoro shoved down the front of his pants and tugged his cock out, precum leaking from the tip. The swordsman poured lube in his hand and, as he slicked up his dick, tossed the bottle to the side.

Sanji braced himself, holding his breath as Zoro lined himself up against the blonde’s entrance and slowly pushed against it.

“Eyes on me.”

Sanji snapped his eyes open, not even having realized that he had closed them shut, and locked eyes with Zoro’s dark gaze. He let out a choked moan as the thick head of Zoro’s cock breached through his ring of muscle, and slowly slid inside, bottoming out.

He lightly panted, lower lip trembling as he felt so immensely full, yet so _right_ , and wanted more, anything Zoro could give him, wanted everything. Zoro leaned forward and placed his hands on either side of Sanji’s head, stopping inches away from the blonde’s face, their breaths mingling together.

“ _I_ am your Alpha.” Zoro declared, slowly dragging his hips back and snapping them forward. “Not that sea witch, and certainly not any other woman you throw yourself at.” Zoro kept that devastatingly steady pace, the slow drag of Zoro’s cock against his walls making him go insane.

“You are mine.” Zoro slammed his hips forward, and Sanji’s body spasmed as the tip of Zoro’s cock bumped over his bundle of nerves deep inside him.

“You.” _Thrust_. “Are.” _Thrust_. “ _Mine_.” Zoro tilted his head forward and pressed their foreheads together, sensually rocking his hips forward, “You belong with me, don’t _ever_ forget that, Sanji.” He murmured possessively.

Sanji’s heart did a flip inside his chest and immediately wrapped his arms around Zoro’s shoulders, burying his face into the crook of Zoro’s neck as he held onto him for dear life.

_I love you_ , he screamed in his mind, yet his tongue failed him, _I love you so much it hurts._

“Yours,” he agreed in a whisper, and then placed a soft kiss on the juncture that connected Zoro’s neck with his shoulder. “Just as you’re mine, too.”

Zoro cursed, grabbed Sanji’s legs and hooked them over his shoulders, starting to fuck into him earnestly. He raked his nails over Zoro’s back as his whole body shook with every rough thrust, “M-More, more, more…p-please, give it to me harder, faster, Zoro, Zoro, _Zoro_ —"

The swordsman growled and angled his hips _just right_ , abusing Sanji’s sweet spot mercilessly, making him keen and tremble. His throbbing cock was trapped between his and Zoro’s body, stimulating him as it slid against the swordsman’s sweaty and muscled abdomen. Then, sharp teeth grazed over his neck, and he tilted his head to the side, exposing his throat to give access, but Zoro merely nibbled lightly in the same spot and withdrew.

Sanji’s eyebrows pinched in confusion, not able to understand much in his hazy mind, drowning in pleasure why Zoro was backing out, what exactly he was waiting for, when all of a sudden, it finally clicked, the realization dawning on his face.

_The mating bite._ Zoro had just given him the invitation, laid out himself bare, wholeheartedly trusting Sanji, as this was the most crucial part of being a werewolf, the most sacred part in their culture. The mating bite was something holy, and once a pack was made, there was no going back. It was a bonding of two souls, becoming one.

Sanji leaned forward and pressed his teeth against the column of Zoro’s neck, as a sign of accepting and encouraging the bite. In the next instant, Zoro briefly placed a gentle kiss on the skin at Sanji’s neck, as an apology, and then sharp canines sank into the juncture where neck met shoulder.

It was nothing like Sanji had ever experienced, or even hoped to imagine. In contrast to what he initially believed, the pain only lasted for a split second, and then, a wave of comfort and pleasure washed over him, making his mind fuzzy, vision going momentarily white.

It felt like he was floating up in the sky, buried into the soft, cotton clouds. He felt connected with the world, different, but familiar emotions speaking to his soul. Longing, affection, serenity, and love. They were not his own, but they reflected his heart, and at once, Sanji realized that they were Zoro’s. He could feel Zoro burrow deep inside his heart, his soul, reaching out to him.

When Sanji slowly came back to it, lethargically blinking his eyes open, he noticed that he wasn’t any longer in the previous position, but was on his side, gently laid against a warm chest, a hand slowly rubbing his back in soothing circles.

“Z-Zoro…? What…what happened?” he croaked out, throat throbbing in pain, dry as desert.

He heard some rustling from beside him, hands gently manhandling him into a sitting position, a hand on his lower back, supporting him. “You blacked out for a couple of minutes, it usually happens when werewolves give their mates the mating bite, so I had to stop. How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” Zoro murmured soothingly against his ear.

“Water,” he whispered, and after a few seconds, a bottle of water was gently positioned against his lips, as Zoro helped him slowly drink a few sips of water. When he was done, he patted Zoro on his bicep, and the swordsman placed the bottle next to them on the floor.

Sanji lifted his hand and lightly brushed his fingertips over the throbbing part on his neck, where the bite was. Shockingly, he didn’t feel any pain now, either, even though he could clearly feel with his hands the outline of Zoro’s teeth embedded into his skin. It was numb more than anything, just like when one limp would lose all feeling if not moved for a long period of time.

_The mating bite demonstrates the equality between mating pairs. It is vital for mating pairs to regard each other as equal. They are used as an act of marking a mate as one’s own._

He frowned as this particular part of the book he had read all these months ago popped up in his head again. If the mating bite was considered as something that represented the equality between two mates, then shouldn’t he return the favor? Even though Sanji didn’t have sharp teeth by nature like werewolves, he was mostly confident that he could break through skin, or apply pressure enough. He was most definitely sure that in the book, it was recommended of human mates to return the mating bite.

Although, Zoro hadn’t mentioned a single thing about it. Maybe he was shy? He snorted at that thought, and turned his attention towards Zoro, staring at him with a determined glint.

Zoro blinked in confusion, surprised by the sudden shift of attention. “What? Why are you looking at me like that, cook?” Then, Zoro’s eyes slightly went round, a panicked glint flashing in his eyes. “Are you hurting somewhere? Did I— did I hurt you? I—”

Sanji leaned forward and silenced Zoro with a kiss, tilting his head to the side for better access. After a few seconds, he pulled back, giving Zoro a pointed look. “How many times do we have to go over this, marimo? You haven’t, and probably will never be able to hurt me, not when I can help it.” He winked, and Zoro rolled his eyes, laying back down on the futon.

“If you’re fine, then let’s go to sleep, I’m tired.” Zoro yawned and closed his eyes.

Sanji stared at him for a few seconds, not knowing how to exactly approach this subject, but then decided to just go for it. He moved forward and got atop of Zoro, knees on either side of the swordsman’s hips.

Zoro cracked an eye open, peering up at him, yet not moving an inch to get him away. “What are you doing, shit-cook? My mating season has broken through, I’m fine now, I don’t need any more—”

“I didn’t return it, though.” He interjected, and Zoro quirked an eyebrow at him.

“Return what?”

Sanji rolled his eyes, blowing out a breath through his nose. “Stop acting dumb, Zoro, you know exactly what I’m talking about.” He chided and crossed his arms over his chest, “So, what’s going on? Don’t you _want_ me to return it? Will I bring shame to the ‘werewolf culture’ by giving you the mating bite? Is it because I’m human?”

Zoro scrunched up his face and pushed himself into a sitting position, making Sanji slide further down onto his legs to be able to move up. “What the fuck, cook? No, of course it’s not that— how the fuck did you even come up with this ridiculous shit?”

“Well, what else could I think when you didn’t even _mention_ this to me?” he shot back.

Tense silence followed for a few seconds, and Sanji raised an eyebrow expectantly. Zoro averted his eyes, and let out a sigh, shoulders slumping forward. “I just…it’s not because you’re human and I don’t want you to return it, but I thought that this whole situation would gross you out, and that you wouldn’t be willing to do it, which you obviously don’t have to, so I didn’t want to pressure you into doing—”

Sanji chewed on his bottom lip as he fought a smile from stretching on his face, eyes softening at the sigh. “Zoro,” he called out, interrupting him. The swordsman immediately snapped his eyes up like a deer caught in headlights. “I never thought I’d live to see the day when the famous ‘Demon of the East’ would avoid a subject cause he was too _shy_ to ask.”

His grin widened as Zoro’s face flushed. “Fuck you, I wasn’t shy!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say— now, c’mere, idiot.” He crawled forward and sat down on Zoro’s lap. He lifted his hand and gently grabbed a fistful of Zoro’s short hair, tugging his head to the side. He leaned forward, brushing his lips over Zoro’s neck, and placed a kiss on the juncture where neck met shoulder just before he sank his teeth into the skin. He felt Zoro tense underneath him, a gasp escaping his lips against Sanji’s ear.

It was a bit of a struggle to break through skin, but eventually, he managed to fully return the mating bite. Sanji slightly pulled away, licking the few droplets of blood clean. “There!” he exclaimed as he straightened up, looking at his own bite mark on Zoro’s shoulder, “Never underestimate my abilities, marimo-chan.” He teased, beaming.

Zoro stared at him with an unreadable expression for a few seconds, and then yanked him forward by the wrist, crashing their lips together into a desperate kiss. Sanji smiled into it, and tilted his head to the side, wrapping his arms around Zoro’s shoulders.

And, like the last missing puzzle, the last, one piece that was nowhere to be found, the hole inside Sanji’s soul disappeared, becoming whole at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this marks the end of this story!! Thank you all so much for giving this fic a chance, and actually staying up until the very end! Each and every single comment encouraged me and gave me motivation, so I would have never done this without all of you, lovely readers <3
> 
> If anyone wants to come and say hi, my twitter account is ZorosBaraTits


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